Shadows from Rio de Janeiro
by waterclaws
Summary: Shark has just won a 2 week all expenses paid trip for 5 to Rio de Janeiro. All of the Alpha teens seem excited except Lioness. When they arrive she starts acting very strangely. What is going on? Rated for language, violence, gore and death. Discontinued
1. Silver Wolf

Okay this is my first fic so it's probably rubbish, but I'll let you decide how it is. This is the first chapter and it doesn't contain any of the A.T.O.M. characters just yet, it's really more of an introduction for my main non-A.T.O.M. character so forgive me if you don't like that, but the next chapter is entirely O.C. free. And if you're one of those people who doesn't like fics with a lot of O.C. action I suggest you stop reading now.

**Disclaimer: **As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Su Ji, Nicky and any other original characters that pop up in later chapters.

* * *

Prologue – Silver Wolf

The brilliant full moon lit the rooftops of Rio de Janeiro in a beautiful display of nature, the city below lay asleep, unaware of the workings of the natural world. One person, however, was there to appreciate it. She stood perfectly still on the high roof of a hotel, the slight breeze fanned out her shoulder length hair, giving her a tranquil quality. Her piercing blue eyes looked out over the rooftops searching for someone she knew that she would never find there again.

Wolf sighed heavily as her mind came back to reality, she had been reminiscing again. A cloud passed over the moon, the spectacle was over. Turning away from the view she swung herself agilely down from the roof and landed perfectly in the side street below. The sound of her mobile phone broke the perfect silence with it's shrill cries. Wolf pulled it out and flipped it open, pressing it up to her ear to hear the almost inaudible caller.

"Sorry what was that, Su Ji?"

"About time you picked up Wolf" Came the crackle filled reply.

"Sorry about that I was…"

"Daydreaming again?" Su Ji interrupted "Anyway we've got no time for that right now, there's trouble in the club"

"Okay Su Ji, you hold down the fort, I'm on my way" Wolf replied and snapped her phone shut.

She jogged out of the alleyway into the main street in search of a taxi. Before she had gone far a black sports car pulled up beside her and the door opened.

"Need a lift?" Smiled the tanned female driver, leaning across the seat.

"You have brilliant timing Nicky" Wolf sighed as she slid into the passenger seat and pulled the door shut.

"No probs, so where to?"

"The club, as fast as you can, seems there's a spot of bother there"

Nicky smiled slyly; with a look that clearly said '_I've been waiting for someone to ask that' _"You might need to hold onto your seat"

But before Wolf could grab onto the edge of her seat, Nicky hit the accelerator to the floor and the car sped off down the road at break neck speed.

* * *

Well there's my first chapter, please review or there will not be a next chapter…


	2. Shark's Lucky Day

Here's chapter 2, now A.T.O.M. comes into the story properly. None of my O.C.'s appear in this chapter and probably won't in the next one either. Hopefully no one's too out of character… And thanks to **Dragon-Ninjagirl** and **Strombreaker** for reviewing my first chapter.

**Disclaimer: **As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Jackal and any other original characters that pop up in later chapters.

* * *

Shark's Lucky Day

Lioness' eyes sprang open as her alarm clock went off, groaning she whacked down on the snooze button. Ten minutes later the alarm chirped back into action but this time it didn't survive the impact of her fist.

"Well that's just great"

In the last month alone she had broken three alarm clocks in the same way. She yawned and stretched her slender arms up above her head. Suddenly she caught sight of the time on her wall clock. It said six o'clock but the clocks went forward that day and so it was really seven o'clock.

"Oh no…" She groaned

"I was here first!"

"No I was!"

"It's my turn in the shower so get out of the way!"

"No it's my turn, so you get out of the way!"

The sounds of Hawk and Shark's daily fight for the shower drifted in Lioness' room as she hastily grabbed together her shower things and made for the shower room. She rounded the corner and saw Hawk and Shark still outside arguing. Lioness gave a sly grin, dashed past them, into the shower room and locked the door behind her. The argument continued for another minute until they both realised that Lioness had stolen their turn.

"Hey!" Shouted Shark

"Lioness, come out right now! It's our turn in there" Hawk cried as he hammered on the door.

Lioness smiled as she listened to them attacking the door in a feeble attempt to reclaim the shower room. A move like that would make even Jackal proud she thought, and then felt the pang of pain that came with remembering her childhood friends. For some reason she had been thinking about her old life with Jackal and the rest of the gang more than usual recently. Lioness leaned her forehead against the cool tiles of the shower room and let her mind bring out the memories.

_An eight year old Lioness looked over to her two best friends as they pressed their backs again a makeshift wall. The rest of their team had been captured and so it was up to them, Wolf nodded. The trio leapt over the wall pelting the opposing team with mud. Before long the whole group were drenched from head to foot and plastered with mud. Suddenly Jackal started giggling and in no time they were all laughing uncontrollably._

A loud thud against the door brought Lioness back to reality. Realising that she was crying she wiped her face with her towel and tried to stifle the memories.

"Hold your horses, I'm nearly done!" She shouted

After quickly drying herself off and pulling on her dressing gown Lioness gathered up her things, padded over to the door and slowly unlocked it. She had barely got out of the way before King pounded past and slammed the door behind him.

"NO!"

Hawk and Shark returned to thumping on the door of the shower room, completely ignoring Lioness who smiled weakly then turned and walked off back to her room.

An hour later and the five teens were now having breakfast in the living area in an altogether haphazard way. King was attempting to eat cereal and use his laptop at the same time, resulting in half of his breakfast ending up on the floor. Hawk was drinking his fruit smoothie through a crazy straw whilst flicking through an old copy of 'Aerodynamics Today'. Shark was nibbling away at a blackened piece of toast whilst browsing though the TV channels on offer. Axel sat bolting down his plate of food, barely noticing what he was eating. Lioness on the other hand was sat with her head propped up on her hand distractedly pushing her food around the plate.

When the doorbell suddenly rang it made all five jump, they had nearly forgotten what a doorbell was. King abandoned his puddle of cereal and ran off to answer it.

"Weirdos, who on earth rings the doorbell these days?" Hawk commented casually.

"The mailman it would seem" Replied Axel as King came in holding a pile of envelopes and started flicking through them.

"Bill, bill, bill, bill, junk, bill, bill, hey Shark seems you've got something" King held out an official looking envelope which Shark grabbed and ripped open.

Only Hawk watched in mild interest as Shark's eyes scanned down the paper. They paused at one line then read and re-read it in surprise.

"I… I won!" He gasped

"Won what?" King inquired half heartedly as he continued looking through the pile of bills and junk mail.

"I've WON!" Shark cried, then leapt up and did a lap of honour around the room proclaiming "I've won!" at the top of his lungs.

He was about to do another lap when Hawk casually tripped him up and King grabbed the letter out of his hand, quickly skimming it for the source of Shark's sudden hyper-activeness.

"Dear Sir… Pleased to inform you that… You have won an all expenses paid trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for five… Departing in two days for two weeks!"

"Hey, what are the chances Shark? You enter enough of those things" Axel commented as he finished his breakfast.

"I assume you're inviting us?" Hawk asked slyly

"Of course, who else would I take? Came the matter of fact reply

In next to no time Hawk, King and Shark were planning out the holiday on King's laptop, completely absorbed by the amount of cool stuff on offer.

"I think the holiday company might want to rethink their all expenses paid policy" Axel laughed as he watched them

On receiving no reply he turned to see Lioness simply staring at her plate, pale as a ghost.

"Are you okay?" He asked with a look of concern.

She jumped and got up. "Yeah, I'm… fine"

"You don't seem fine"

"It's nothing… I've got to go check on something now" Came her hurried reply as she hurried out of the room. Leaving a very concerned Axel wondering what had got the fearless fighter so on edge.

* * *

Chapter 2 all done, time to start work on number 3…


	3. The Sign of the Seal

Now chapter 3 and A.T.O.M. have finally got to Rio. In the end I decided that it would be better to slot a little bit with two of my O.C.'s in as it adds to the chapter, rather than just having A.T.O.M. running around. It also should help the plot develop better. By the way there is swearing in this chapter in about five places, just to forewarn you. And thanks to **Dragon-Ninjagirl**, **Strombreaker, Lovelinelivelong639, daydream53 **and **ladychriz **for your reviews, it's nice to know that people like it!

**Disclaimer: **As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Anna, Eddy and any other original characters that pop up in later chapters.

* * *

The Sign of the Seal

"All passengers are requested to return to their seats and fasten their seatbelts. We are about to begin our decent into the Galeão - Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport, Rio de Janeiro. Thank you that is all." The monotonous voice of the stewardess came over the intercom, who by the sounds of it would clearly have preferred to be somewhere else.

The flight had been delayed at the airport by Hawk, who had been so busy looking at the planes that he had forgotten that he was supposed to be boarding one. But apart from that it had been an unusually good one, making it extremely boring. So while Hawk spent the flight gawking at the nearest stewardess everyone else had ended up asleep.

The plane made a slightly bumpy landing on the runway, shaking the passengers awake, and docked. However when it was time to disembark Hawk was still trying to get a number of one of the stewardesses. King ended up having to physically drag him off the plane so that he didn't delay the next flight as well.

**Anna's p.o.v.**

In the terminal lobby below a blonde haired woman was leaning against a wall as she watched the flight announcements reel across a large digital screen. The flight she was waiting for was still delayed. She sighed and continued waiting when she heard someone calling her name.

"Anna, there you are!"

Smiling she walked over and hugged the tall ginger haired man who she had been waiting for.

"Your plane was bloody late enough"

"Nice to see you too!"

"Oh fine then, how was your flight, Eddy dear?"

Eddy grinned "Delayed"

Anna cuffed him on the shoulder "Got the goods?"

"Yeah"

"No problems I trust"

"Not any that couldn't be sorted out" Eddy smirked

"Good good, let's get going then"

Anna took the handle of the suitcase Eddy had put down and the pair walked to the door together. Eddy pushed open the heavy door, only to be barged out of the way by five teenagers rushing out of the airport, causing him to drop the holdall he was carrying. He quickly bent down to check if it was damaged.

"Watch where you're going you stupid fucking tourists!"

**A.T.O.M. p.o.v **

"Hurry up will you!" Called Axel as the group ran for the terminal doors, the last bus to the hotel was about to leave.

A tall ginger haired man had just pushed open the heavy metal door and they dashed past him knocking a holdall out of his hand. They would have stopped and apologised if they weren't in such a hurry, but before they rounded the corner they heard the man shout:

"Watch where you're going you stupid fucking tourists!"

"How pleasant!" Commented Shark as he ran

"Oh crap!" Hawk stopped as they rounded the corner and saw the final bus of the day pull away from the curb and drive off.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Moaned King

Lioness rolled her eyes, sighed and on spotting a yellow car with a blue stripe on the side whistled loudly. The taxi pulled up and she opened the door while the others stared at her.

"What? Never taken a taxi before?" She asked as she put her bag into the trunk and climbed in.

As soon as they had all shoved their bags into the boot they climbed in. Shark had left his jacket on a balustrade, turned around to pick it up, only to find that it had disappeared. Frowning, he climbed in and shut the door.

"Has anyone seen my jacket?"

When no one answered the taxi driver grinned "Welcome to Rio mate" And with that he pulled away.

**Later... **

The cab pulled up outside a large three-storey building. A wooden sign above the door proclaimed that they were looking at 'The Sign of the Seal' in pealing letters. On the whole it looked as far away from a five star luxury hotel as it was possible to be.

"Here we are, The Sign o' the Seal Hotel. That'll be 25 US dollars"

Axel was about to hand over it over when Lioness butted in "15"

"24" The driver returned

"17"

"22"

"19"

"20"

"Deal" Lioness paid the driver and got out.

As the cab drove off Axel rounded on Lioness "What was that all about?"

"I was bartering; you didn't honestly think that it was the fair price he offered?"

"Why wasn't it the fair price he offered?" Asked Hawk, he was intrigued.

Lioness had to suppress a laugh at the question "How else is he going to make extra money? That's what everyone around here does; the tourists are so gullible, they don't seem to understand bartering. It's just how this place works"

The boys were all amazed at Lioness' street knowledge and her sudden change in behaviour. Ignoring their confusion she picked up her bag and walked up to the chipping metal doors.

"Come on, it's getting dark"

As it happened, the Sign of the Seal was nowhere near as bad a hotel as it looked from the outside. Once through the front doors a beautiful five star lobby was revealed, complete with an ornate wooden staircase. The large reception desk was made of oak and behind it were rows of pigeonholes with keys in them. A smartly dressed receptionist was the only person in sight. She stood behind the desk filing her nails, clearly not expecting anyone to walk in.

"Let me guess, delayed flight?" She quizzed, quickly hiding her nail file

"Yeah, why?" Yawned Shark

"Oh, apparently there was some really stupid and loud first class passenger who kept the last Landmark City to Rio flight of the day waiting. Most of the guests here came in on that flight and man were they pissed when they came in"

Hawk turned very red in embarrassment

"Anyway" The receptionist continued "You all seem tired so I'll get you your keys."

"I'm assuming that you don't want to share with a boy?" she asked Lioness as she handed her a key

"And that would mean that you boys will be sharing these two" She handed Axel two more room keys

"The room number is on them so just check the doors, they should all be together"

The conversation clearly over, they picked up their bags and climbed the staircase in search of their rooms. Meanwhile the receptionist ticked them off the guest list and then went back to filing her nails.

* * *

By the way the Galeão - Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport does actually exist, in case you didn't know. It took me awhile to get it right so I hope its okay. See you in chapter 4...


	4. Familiar Faces

I'm very sorry that it's taken me so long to update but at first it just didn't work, then my computer crashed as I was typing it up and then I twisted my back which is really painful (Not really anything to do with it but oh well, might as well stick it in). I also went back to school and had my 'end of year' exams all week so I was bogged down with revision. And thanks to **Dragon-Ninjagirl, CatalinaManning, Bunnylass **and **Rogue SG-1 **for reviewing the last chapter. Anyway, I''l let you get on with reading the chapter now.

**Disclaimer: **As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Su Ji, Jackal, Vixen and any other original characters that pop up in later chapters.

* * *

Familiar Faces

Wolf was sat in front of a computer screen going through security camera footage from the club. She spun round when the door behind her opened suddenly but relaxed as she saw that it was only Su Ji.

"You're here early"

"You're even earlier Wolf, if I didn't know better I'd say that something was worrying you"

Wolf gave a brief smile and turned back to the screen, Su Ji curiously drew up another chair.

"I'm sure that I recognise that guy from somewhere" Stated Wolf as she indicated to a figure on the security footage.

Su Ji leaned forward and examined the blurry figure "Strange, he does seem awfully familiar… You should probably ask the others if they recognise him"

"I don't know why but that guy seems wrong in some way, it's making me restless"

"Don't worry about it; it's probably nothing important…" Su Ji dismissed it and moved her chair over to her work station.

Wolf frowned and turned back to the blurry figure on the screen "Where do I know you from?"

**A.T.O.M. p.o.v.**

"Right, let's go over the plan for the day" King beamed as he placed his laptop down at the breakfast table.

The group were all up and having breakfast in the dining room of the hotel. Almost all of the other guests were still asleep, so the room was relatively empty. The meal was a self service buffet so King and Shark had miniature mountains of food piled up on their plates.

"First we'll catch a bus to Sugar Loaf Mountain, go onto the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas and round off the sight seeing with a trip to the Jardim Botanico" He continued, butchering the Brazilian place names

"Sounds good" Commented Axel as he chewed

"We are going to visit Copacabana and the other beaches while we're here at some point?" Shark queried anxiously

"Of course we are, you bone head, you helped plan the vacation in the first place! And they are one of the main attractions around here" King answered in a matter of fact way as they proceeded to finish up the remains of their breakfast.

**Jackal's p.o.v. **

Jackal looked over the railings that enclosed the view point on top of Sugar Loaf Mountain. "You know Vicky, I have no idea why you wanted to drag me up here" She glanced over at the ebony haired woman next to her.

"I know Jackie, you always need to have your presence justified" Vicky laughed

"Quit dodging the question Vixen!"

"Jackie do not use my alias in public!"

"So just give me an answer"

"Look, I just wanted to talk away from everyone's surveillance"

"And by everyone you mean…"

"Rival networks, feds, Su Ji, the list goes on and on…"

"Oh come on Su Ji isn't that bad!"

"No but all those security cameras make me feel nervy and uncomfortable"

"Fair enough, so, what did you want to talk about?"

**A.T.O.M. p.o.v. **

Lioness stared out of the cable car window as it slowly inched its way up to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain. King and Shark were sitting and speed reading their way through the guide book, Hawk was staring at the closest female in the car and Axel was also looking at the wonderful view below.

"Have you ever been here before?" He asked not taking his eyes off the view

Lioness merely nodded in reply as she stared down at the receding ground and remembered the last time that she had seen it.

"_It's so beautiful up here" A ten year old version of Lioness gasped_

_The eleven year old girl next to her smiled as she leaned against the railings "This is one of the few places that the fighting and sadness doesn't reach so from here the whole city appears beautiful"_

_Lioness smiled at the older girl's word of wisdom "One day I'm gonna know as much about the world and the city as you Vixen"_

_Vixen laughed "I know you will Lioness, I know you will…" She replied as she patted her on the back encouragingly._

The jolt of the cable car as it reached the station at the top pulled her out of her memory. She shook her head to clear her senses and followed the rest of the crowd out onto the mountain. It was impossible to look out over the city and not stare in wonder at the beauty of it all. The teens went across the view point to the railings to get a better view of the city below.

"Wow, it's hard to believe that it's real" King pronounced

Hawk however was not at all interested in the view; his attention was focused on a pair of young women who were talking together a few metres away.

"Trust him to come up to the top of one of Brazil's most awesome landmarks and spend all his time gawking at girls" Axel grinned

"Which ones then Hawk?" Asked King

He gestured in the direction of the pair and as soon as Lioness caught sight of them she quickly turned away, back to the view.

"Something wrong?" Axel immediately asked

"No, nothing" She replied quickly

**Jackal's p.o.v. **

"Well in my expert opinion it's the right move"

Jackal replied before turning and glancing around the view point, she was sure that she'd felt someone staring at her. She relaxed and smiled slightly when her eyes fell on the perpetrator.

"Seems we've attracted attention Vicky"

Vixen turned and looked in the direction Jackal was and relaxed.

"Don't scare me like that! Besides these tourist boys, all eyes, no brains"

The pair giggled at the comment and walked back across the view point to the cable car station. As they waited Jackal turned and examined the group that the gawking tourist was standing with.

"Tell you what; I really feel sorry for that poor girl with them, those boys will probably spend all their time in Rio staring at other girls"

**A.T.O.M. p.o.v. **

Lioness sighed in relief when the pair left, that had been too close. She really did not want to go bumping into any members of the old gang.

The rest of the day went relatively quickly. The Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas was very peaceful and the group enjoyed skimming stones across the surface of the calm lake. The journey to the Jardim Botanico was completely mad as it turned out that a neighbourhood was also called the Jardim Botanico and if it wasn't for Lioness' knowledge of the area then they probably wouldn't have got there at all. And whilst they were walking through the gardens Lioness spotted another person from the old gang and had been forced to duck into a hedge to avoid him. It had raised several questions and Axel was starting to get suspicious.

The group decided to have dinner at the café in the gardens and by the time that they had finished the sun was beginning to set.

"We'd better get going now before it gets too dark" Commented Axel

"Yeah, we can go back to the hotel now and a bit later we can go to this club that the guide book says is apparently unmissable" King agreed, as he looked in his guide book, he was now the official organiser for the holiday.

Lioness felt her heart sink in fear, she just knew that at least one, if not more, of the old gang would be there and in the confined conditions of a nightclub a meeting was inevitable...

* * *

There you have it, chapter 4, I know it's not as good as the others but it is necessary as it introduces Vixen and Jackal to the current timeline and it gets Lioness and the others to the point of going to the club which the next chapter is based in… Sorry that it's so segmented with all the pov switches but that makes the timeline work and I think it's ok this way... I promise to update sooner next time, see you then.


	5. Club 247

Hey again, chapter five now and boy is it a long one... This is so much longer than the other chapters but has a _lot _going on in it so I'd better shut up and let you get started. But before that I must once again thank my reviewers **Bunnylass**, **WiltedRose-x**, **CatalinaManning** and **Dragon-Ninjagirl**, thanks for your reviews of chapter 4 it really gave me a boost as I hit a major writer's block this week. Thanks also to those who remain silent but continue to read the story, it's much appreciated even if you don't feel like giving feedback. Anyway on with the story!

**Disclaimer: **As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Su Ji, Vixen, Kiwi, Dove, Andrew and any other original characters that pop up in later chapters.

* * *

Club 24/7

**A.T.O.M. pov**

"So, what amazing, unmissable nightclub are we gracing with our presence?" Hawk inquired as the group stood outside the hotel under a small bus shelter along with what seemed to be the majority of the other guests who all appeared to be headed for nightclubs as well.

In answer to Hawk's question King handed him a crumpled flyer.

"Club 24/7, sounds flash" He commented

"Apparently it's the best underground club in Rio" King answered

"What, it's in the ground?" Shark asked, confused

"Don't be stupid, there are two main types of nightclub, mainstream and underground. Underground is the cheaper and better option, mainstream clubs are really over rated" Lioness explained

Once again the boys were astounded by her great knowledge of Rio and all it's main features.

"How on earth do you know all of that stuff?"

But before Axel could get an answer the dilapidated bus pulled up and the waiting crowd piled on.

**Wolf's pov**

"Okay, what's bothering you?"

The dark haired and hansom co-owner of club 24/7 sat down next to Wolf as she stared up at the night sky from the roof of the club.

"None of your business Andrew" She stated without taking her eyes off the stars.

"It is my business if you're this put out" He answered.

"No it's not. Whatever concerns me does not concern you at all"

"Yes it does if it affects your work and you take to hiding up on rooftops"

"Andrew I'm not..." Wolf started but was interrupted by Andrew.

"Don't make me have to ask you again Michelle"

At the sound of the name she hadn't heard in over five years Wolf's eyes snapped off the sky and met with Andrew's.

"You... Just..."

"Used your real name? I'm serious Michelle, something is really bothering you and I'm not leaving this roof until you tell me what"

"Fine, you stay here as long as you like"

With that she got up and vanished back into the building leaving Andrew alone to worry about what was troubling her so much.

**A.T.O.M. pov**

The rickety bus pulled up outside what appeared to be an old warehouse. As the majority of the passengers scrambled off it was hard to get a good look at the building. But as soon as they were off the bus and the masses had made for the club doors, the teens could properly inspect the building.

It was not the most impressive of places but in their short time in Rio the group had learned that appearances were usually deceiving. A long mainly one storey building with a flat roof it actually looked rather small. There was a small first storey office with a door out onto the large roof space that sat almost out of sight in the far corner of the building. Above the central metal doors at the front of the building was an electrical sign bearing the name of the club and a menacing bouncer manned the door.

The group joined the queue and were soon waved into the lobby after flashing their Ids. They paid for their tickets quickly and went through another pair of doors and the club interior opened up tremendously in front of them, with toilets and the staff room on either side of the entrance lobby to maximize the free space. The ground floor was the large bar area of the club and a big spiral staircase led down to the basement level and the main club. In the far corner there was a guarded door to the private elevator leading up to the first floor office.

The bar was located at the center of the room with stools next to the circular serving counter, several tables were arranged in a wide segmented circle around the bar area which gave the room a very geometric feel.

"Oh wow!" Shark was astounded by the sheer scale of the club.

"Right, I'm off downstairs. Who's coming with me?" Hawk asked as he began to make a bee-line for the staircase.

The other boys followed but Lioness decided that it was best not to brave the main club and settled herself at one of the many tables which was also the closest to the exit. Axel would have stayed but she insisted on not spoiling the evening by dragging him away from the others.

After sitting at the table nursing a Caipirinha (a drink made of Brazilian liquor, lime and sugar with ice cubes) for about half an hour Lioness decided that it was safe to call it a night without raising too many questions. She finished her drink, got up and slowly made her way down the spiral staircase to find one of the boys and tell them that she was going back to the hotel. But when she reached the club floor not one of the four boys was in sight. She stood for a moment to access the situation and finally decided that disappearing without a word was worse than the chance of bumping into one of the old gang whilst looking for the boys.

She began to make her way through the crowd and in next to no time regretted her choice. The boys were all standing and talking to a red haired woman who looked the definition of perfect, unfortunately Lioness recognized her as her least favorite member of the old gang. The thought that Dove had not changed a bit over the five years she'd been away passed quickly through her mind. Before any of them could spot her and give her away she ducked back into the crowd and made for the exit. Lioness was in such a hurry that she didn't see the woman in front of her until it was too late.

The collision knocked Lioness off her feet and when the woman offered her hand and pulled her back to her feet, both let out gasps of surprise."Oh my God! Lioness, I haven't seen you in years!"

**Vixen's pov**

It was another busy night at the bar and Vixen was having trouble keeping up with the flow of drink orders. What made her even more annoyed about it all was the fact that Dove was supposed to be on duty as well but, as per usual, she had picked the busiest night of the week to bunk off.

As the evening rush subsided Vixen resolved that she was going to complain about Dove's constant absences, then she spotted the unmistakable red-head going down the stairs into the club. She narrowed her eyes, that was the final straw. After glaring at a clueless tourist who was attempting to order another drink in Spanish she stuck up a 'Bar staff on break, back in 20 minutes' sign, vaulted over the counter and made for the stairs.

She descended slowly and stopped when she spotted the troublesome red-head on the other side of the club floor. Vixen rolled her eyes when she saw that Dove had acquired not one but four boys to flirt with. 'Time to break up the party' she thought and quickly reached the club floor only to collide head-on with someone. Briefly rubbing a bruise on her arm she reached out and pulled the person to their feet and gasped in utter surprise when she recognized the surprised Brazilian.

"Oh my God! Lioness, I haven't seen you in years!"

Lioness looked extremely uncomfortable and quickly muttered "Vixen! Keep it down, I don't want to attract attention"

"Shouldn't have come here then, the cameras have spotted you by now and so Su Ji probably knows you're here already. It's a miracle that Wolf hasn't found you yet"

Lioness' eyes widened "Tell me she isn't here"

"Then I'd be lying, she's always here. Wolf's the co-owner for goodness sake!"

"Who's the other co-owner?"

"Andrew of course"

"Andrew?" Lioness quired

"Oh, of course, you left before the majority of us started using our real names. You'd know him as Dragon."

"Really? They used to hate each other, and what happened to Panther?"

At the sound of Wolf's ex-boyfriend's name Vixen stiffened "Er... Nothing he just... Went" She lied, thinking it better not to tell Lioness that he'd been murdered soon after she'd left and that the gang were slowly being taken out one by one at the hands of a mysterious foe.

Lioness raised her eyebrows, clearly not buying Vixen's jumbled answer. "Oh fine, don't tell me. Now can we just get out of here, we're starting to attract attention"

The pair turned and began to make their way up the stairs when Vixen suddenly remembered that she'd gone down to get Dove and instinctively turned to check on the wayward employee. Lioness stopped and turned to see what Vixen was glaring at in surprise and anger, she instantly regretted it. She turned and bolted off up the stairs, tears filling her eyes from what she had seen.

"Oh holy crap" Vixen turned, saw Lioness disappearing, put two and two together and went after her.

**Wolf's pov**

"Another busy night it seems"

Wolf pulled up a chair next to Su Ji who was, as usual, monitoring the security cameras for any signs of trouble. On the feedback from the camera above the front doors another bus pulled up and a mass of people climbed off.

"Seems so" Agreed Su Ji

Suddenly, taking both women by surprise, the outside door was kicked down by a very annoyed Andrew. Su Ji quickly looked from Andrew to Wolf and back, then returned her attention to the screen.

"Just what is your problem?" Andrew shouted

"Nothing, and before you ask, no I did not lock that door" Wolf replied in her usual calm and controlled tone.

"Well someone bloody did and you're the only one who seems to have such a problem with me!"

"Don't be stupid Andrew, I'm not that petty" She replied, her voice rising slightly

"Oh really Wolf, I doubt that"

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" She was getting frustrated and was now shouting

"You know exactly what I mean Michelle, you're a cold, sarcastic bitch! It's no wonder that no one around here can stand you!"

He had gone too far.

"Nice to know where you stand, I'll just get out of your way then" Her voice had fallen to a low hiss, full of venom.

She pushed past him out onto the roof but Andrew went after her.

"Michelle wait, I didn't mean it"

She turned around and glared at him "Oh you meant it alright, I understand" Without another word she walked across the roof and disappeared into the night.

"You really put your foot in it there" Su Ji commented as he walked back into the room.

"I didn't mean to go that far but she..."

"Did not lock you out, that door always jams these days" She interrupted

"Oh god, what have I done?"

"Leave it, what you said really hurt her but she'll be back, don't worry"

"But will she forgive me?"

"Not straight away, but she likes you too much not to"

"What do you mean 'likes me'?"

Su Ji realized that she'd said too much and immediately turned her full attention back to monitoring the security camera feedback.

"Come on Su Ji, what did you mean?" Andrew was intrigued and was not going to drop the subject quickly.

Half an hour later and Su Ji suddenly noticed several important things in quick succession. Firstly she spotted Dove vanishing down the stairs when she was supposed to be on duty at the bar. Minutes later she saw Vixen leaping over the bar counter in hot pursuit. And at the same time she saw Lioness making her way through the crowd towards Dove.

"Holy shit of the father! Tonight is going to be crazy!"

"What's up?"

Andrew pulled up a chair and she showed him what was going on down on the club floor. They watched as Lioness saw who Dove was with and made for the exit. Both of them saw the collision coming.

"Ouch that's gotta hurt"

Vixen and Lioness could be seen talking for a while but the noise in the club was too loud for the camera to pick up what they were saying. The pair soon started off up the stairs but Su Ji's attention was elsewhere.

"Oh my god, Dove just won't quit will she!"

"Lioness doesn't look too happy about something" Andrew commented as her saw her running off and then Vixen going off after her.

"I think I know what that something is" Su Ji paused the footage on one camera and pointed "I think that's her boyfriend"

On the screen, set aside from the crowd was Dove. Three of the four boys with her had gone off to get drinks and she hadn't wasted any time in making out with the remaining admirer. And by the looks of it Axel wasn't putting up too much of a fight about it...

**Vixen's pov**

Vixen stood in front of a locked toilet cubicle in the ladies, the sound of sobbing could be easily heard coming from inside.

"Lioness, please come out" Vixen called

No reply came, the sobbing only got harder.

"Please, I thought you didn't want to attract attention cause locking yourself in a toilet cubicle will get you nothing but that"

As if to prove Vixen's point the door opened and a blond Australian woman came in "Hi Vix, how is she?"

"Not good, as you can see"

The Australian walked over to the cubicle and tapped on the door "Lioness, it's Kiwi. Can you come out here please?"

The sobbing continued but the bolt on the cubicle door slid away and Lioness stepped out. Her face was tear stained and she was still crying.

"Come here sweetie" Kiwi hugged her sympathetically and let Lioness cry on her shoulder.

After a while the crying subsided and Lioness wiped her eyes with the back of her hand as she pulled out of Kiwi's hug.

"Come on, we'll get you back to the hotel in a minute. Wash your face off and then we'll go" Kiwi instructed.

Lioness went over to the sink and washed her face thoroughly "I'm sorry" She murmured

"There's nothing to say sorry about girl, it's not your fault" Vixen replied

"I meant about leaving without saying goodbye"

"It's okay, we'll forget about that for now. At the moment we need to concentrate on getting you to the hotel and avoiding the rest of the gang, especially Wolf" Kiwi comforted

Suddenly Vixen's mobile began to ring. " God damn it, the one call I get in weeks and it has to be now... Hello..." She picked up, clearly very irritated.

"Hi there Vixen, I assume that you and Kiwi are still the the ladies toilets with Lioness" Su Ji's voice came through the phone.

"And I'm assuming that you're gonna help us get out of here"

"Well duh, switch to hands free and use your ear piece, it's going to attract attention and arouse suspicions if you're walking around with your phone pressed to your ear"

Vixen quickly did as instructed and waited for Su Ji to give her even more instructions.

"Right, so far it's only you two, myself and Andrew who know that Lioness is here so that's okay... Wolf has left the building so that means we don't have to worry about her, which is a relief... But you can't go via the front doors because Rhino is on duty..." Su Ji faded out as she searched out the other members of the old gang in the club.

"We can use the roof" She insisted interrupting Su Ji's ramblings "You can still swing can't you?" She asked Lioness who nodded in affirmation "Well that's settled, now make sure our path is clear" Vixen instructed, taking over the escape plans

"I'm on it, the only ones you've got to look out for are Charlie and Thomas... Andrew can you move Thomas out of the way?" Su Ji asked over her shoulder "Okay you're path's clear but not for long so get going"

Vixen nodded and gestured to the others to follow her. They left the ladies toilets and made their way quickly but casually across the room, only just missing Andrew leading Thomas off to the staff room. When they reached the elevator the door was opened automatically by Su Ji and as the elevator began to ascend they all heaved a sigh of relief, they were safely out of the club.

"Phew, that was close" Sighed Kiwi

The door opened and they stepped out onto the first floor. Su Ji spun round in her chair to greet them.

"Long time no see, Lioness"

Lioness once again looked awkward "If I hear that one more time today I am honestly gonna punch someone"

The group of girls burst out laughing and they all relaxed.

"Still just as feisty as ever!" Vixen commented

There was a slight pause before Lioness asked one of the awkward questions that the others would rather not hear. "You know I didn't want to be seen but you guys didn't have to go all Mission Impossible on me, why did you want to get me out so quickly if Wolf isn't here?"

"Err..." Vixen and Kiwi both looked over to Su Ji to see what they should say

"No reason... I guess we just went a little bit over the top..." Su Ji lied, she was not going to risk telling Lioness about the gang's current situation and the fact that Lioness herself might become the mysterious assassins' target if it got out that she was back in town.

Once again Lioness realized that she was being lied to and was about to challenge her when a red light above the computer screen began flashing and an alarm screamed into life. Su Ji spun around to see what was causing the disturbance.

"Oh fuck, not again..."

"What?" Vixen and Kiwi leaned over and groaned simultaneously when they saw what was going on.

"This is the second time the feds have raided us this week! I'd better warn Andrew..." Su Ji pulled out her headset and called him. Seeing the trio just standing there she quickly motioned to the door and shooed them out.

They quickly came to the back edge of the club and one by one swung down into the back alley, out of sight of the raiding feds.

"Still haven't lost your touch" Vixen smiled

"You're staying at the Sign of the Seal right?" Kiwi asked

"Yeah, you know the way by foot? I 'm a bit rusty..." Lioness explained and Vixen and Kiwi sniggered as they started off down the street on the way to the Sign of the Seal. But even as she enjoyed the fun of being back with two of her favorite members of the old gang, Lioness couldn't help but feel crushed as she thought about what she had seen back in the club...

* * *

Okay before you all start saying it, there is more to the Axel/Dove thing than there appears to be, I am a firm Axel/Lioness supporter so know that it is not like it seems and that it is a sacrifice that must be made for the plot... Sorry about that, but I will make it better for them again, I promise, so please don't kill me just yet...


	6. The Morning After

Many, many apologies for the long delay in updating, it's a long story as to why so I won't go into it and let you get on with the chapter instead. Now for chapter six, it shouldn't be as confusing as the last chapter as it is all in one pov (A.T.O.M.) and is set in one place. This is not the longest chapter but it is probably the longest single scene so far, it has no time lapses at all. Many thanks to my reviewers **Dragon-Ninjagirl**, **Bunnylass**, **ladychriz**, **Red shadow Ranger**, **WiltedRose-x, Arwen16 **and **Deneris **for your comments on chapter five. But this is my least favorite chapter up to date as I'm rather concerned that its too melodramatic but the next chapter is shaping up better so please bear with me. Sorry again for the delay, but now on with the show!

**Disclaimer: **As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Vixen, Dove and any other original characters that pop up in later chapters.

* * *

The Morning After

The next morning breakfast at the Sign of the Seal for the teens was a lot less enjoyable than their last. All four of the boys had been confused when Lioness had collected her food, walked right past them and settled down on the far side of the room with Vixen, who had spent the night at the hotel with her.

Axel, being the most insulted and confused, went over soon after they'd sat down to find out what was going on and he met with a rather frosty reception.

"Excuse me, could I speak to Lioness?" He addressed Vixen who he did not feel comfortable talking around and really wanted to just go away.

"No, she doesn't want to speak to you, so will you just get lost already" Came the blunt reply

"Sorry, but I'm her friend and who are you to stop me speaking to her?"

"Oh right, I'm Vicky Regenalds her older and better friend. Now can you leave, we're trying to have breakfast here"

"At least tell me why I can't speak to her?"

"Are you thick or something? Stop pestering us"

"Tell me why not and I'll go"

"Fine, A) She doesn't want to speak to you, B) She doesn't want to hear what you've got to say and C) You're a stupid, good for nothing bastard! Is that good enough?"

"What!?"

"You heard me, now shove off before I shove this pancake where the sun don't shine!"

Completely lost for words Axel returned to the rest of the gang at their table.

"So what's going on then?" King asked

"I still have no idea, but her so called 'friend' won't shift so I can speak to Lioness alone, that woman makes me feel really uncomfortable" Axel replied

"Was that feeling there before or after she started threatening you with that pancake?" Inquired Hawk

"I thought you guys couldn't hear that from over here?"

"We can't but she was readying the pancake for attack so we just assumed…" Began Hawk

"Well I'm not risking it; I'll have to try again later" Axel interrupted; he was not in a good mood after the talk

There was a moments silence before Shark started assessing their chances "She doesn't look so tough, I'm sure we could take her on, after all we fight much worse on a regular basis"

"What! We're not starting a fight, we'll get thrown out! Axel exclaimed

"Don't be so melodramatic, you want to get to the bottom of this don't you?" Asked Shark

"Yeah, and I think she's run out of threatening food products" Hawk stated, he was not going to let this pancake incident drop any time soon.

"Yes but…"

Too late, the other three boys had already got up and managed to reach the table before he could stop them.

"Do you mind, we'd like to speak to Lioness" King said, leading the charge while Hawk and Shark stood in the background attempting to look menacing but failing rather badly.

"Well as she doesn't want to speak or listen to you it'd be rather a waste of time on both our parts" She swiftly retorted

"Well can we ask why she won't speak or listen to us?" King asked

"Yes you can but Lioness is not speaking to you so you will not get an answer"

Behind Vixen, Lioness had finished eating and quickly got up and took her plate over to the cleaning hatch. At the door to the lobby she stopped and called Vixen. "Let's go, they're not worth it Vixen"

Vixen who was ready for a fight was disappointed but followed after hissing "Lucky for you we're leaving, I'm not done with you yet"

Lioness had already left the doorway and was heading for the front door when she was intercepted by Axel.

"What have I done?" Was all he asked

She side stepped to get past but he blocked her.

"What have I done?" He repeated

She was just about to answer when a loud call came from the top of the staircase.

"Heya darling, where were you off to in such a hurry?"

Dove stepped into view, smiling as sweetly as possible for a woman like her and wearing a distinctly unfeminine dressing gown.

"That" Came Lioness' sad, quiet answer as she barged roughly past Axel.

"Lioness wait..." He turned and grabbed hold of her arm in an attempt to stop her rushing off again as he realised what was wrong.

"Let go of me" She growled in a tone she hadn't used in many years

"This isn't how it looks"

With that she spun around and slapped Axel hard in the face, it was so hard and unexpected that he let go and staggered back in shock. "I said let go"

"What the Hell?" Vixen and King had finally come through the doors, Shark and Hawk were finishing their breakfast up, just in time to see the slap happen.

Lioness turned again to leave but Axel had regained his composure and was not going to be deterred that easily. He was about to block her again but this time Vixen stopped him.

"Get out of the way"

"No"

"Move you bitch!"

"Not a chance you…"

Vixen never got to finish her sentence before Axel punched her full on in the face, hard. King rushed over and dragged Axel away before he could hit Vixen again. Lioness ran back to help up Vixen, who had blood streaming from her nose which looked broken and was trying to stem the flow with the back of her hand.

"You are so going to regret that" Vixen snarled

"It was just a misunderstanding, now come on we need to get you to hospital" Lioness soothed whilst pulling her towards the door but before she could get her out of the building, Vixen turned and yelled back at them:

"I'm going to make you regret that, you've broken my nose but I can do a lot worse than that. You picked the wrong person to mess with boy!"

Catching sight of Dove smirking away at the foot of the stairs Vixen continued "Oh, by the way Dove you've gone way too far this time! Consider yourself fired!" And before she could make any more of a scene Lioness managed to get Vixen out the door and to the hospital.

"Let me go" Axel was really struggling to escape King's grip

"No way am I letting you get away, not while you're this hyped up for a fight" King answered

"She deserved that"

"Too right!" Laughed Dove as she struggled to control her delight

"What the hell are you here for? I told you to leave me alone!" Axel snarled at the red head.

"I was merely enjoying the spectacle"

"Making the situation worse you mean"

She smirked evilly and stood up "Ah yes, you got me."

"What's the point? Why did you have to do this to us?" He asked

"A) That was for revenge and B) that was my job"

"Job?" He asked, trying to ignore the sinking feeling he had in the pit of his stomach

Her smirk became even more malevolent, if possible, before she answered contemptuously "My superiors were only interested in her, not you losers, so I merely needed to split your happy little group up and what better way to do that than exploiting her feelings for you"

"You mad bitch" Axel was so furious that King was really having trouble restraining him

"Mad? Oh no, just doing my duty and getting a little revenge on the side. Oh yeah, that reminds me, I'd better give them the news so they can…"

Once again someone's sentence was cut short by a punch to the face but this time it was King who had delivered the blow. Dove hissed ferociously and retreated up the stairs dropping the dressing gown that she was wearing over her clothes on the way.

"Okay, can somebody please tell us what is going on?" Shark and Hawk had at long last arrived and were both completely clueless about the last few minutes' activity.

"Very long story" Axel sighed as he rubbed the bruise King's grip had left on his arm

"Why is there a dressing gown lying randomly on the stairs?" Shark asked as he picked it up and a disc fell out

King walked over and picked up the disc before examining it closely "It looks like a CD but I'll try it on my laptop to be sure" He said before starting up the stairs, halfway up he turned and took charge of the situation "Axel, you'd better come with me so I can keep an eye on you. Hawk, Shark you two can go and see if you can find Lioness"

"But…" Axel began

"Not buts, you've caused enough trouble for one day"

"You punched someone as well"

"Don't argue, I had a much better reason for punching her than you did with Vixen. Now come on, and you two had better get going or you'll never find them" King turned and disappeared up the stairs.

A disgruntled Axel paused for a moment then followed. Shark and Hawk waited to make sure that he was safely upstairs before going out the front doors and struggling to find a bus or taxi in the morning rush.

* * *

And there you have it, chapter six done and dusted, now off to chapter seven…


	7. The Fuse Is Lit

Man I am getting really tardy with my updates...But I'm glad you didn't think that chapter six was too melodramatic for you. This is a complicated chapter but its leading up to an explosive next chapter so bear with me. Thanks once again to my reviewers **Arwen16**, **ladychiz**, **WiltedRose-x**, **Red shadow Ranger**, **Dragon-Ninjagir**l and **Bunnylass** your comments are much appreciated.

**Disclaimer: **As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Vixen, Dove, Su Ji, etc, etc, we all get the gist by now.

* * *

The Fuse is Lit

**Wolf's pov**

In a small Internet cafe on the corner of some unimportant and deserted street sat Wolf. Her attention was focused completely on the screen in front of her as she manipulated line after line of binary code. A slight smile flickered across her face as Su Ji's desktop came up on the screen, fortunately for her it was Su Ji's break at that time. Using the remote access control Wolf tapped into the security footage from the night before and in no time the recording from the five main cameras came up.

She smiled again and leaned back in the chair taking a sip of her drink. However when a certain chain of events began to play out, the smile left her face and was replaced with an angry frown. The frown deepened as she saw Vixen, Kiwi and Su Ji talking to Lioness. Before she could see any more the feeds stopped and on an open text document a question appeared:

_That you Wolf?_

She cursed under her breath, Su Ji's break was over, she'd been found out. She took control again and typed back:

I see you had an unexpected guest last night

_It's not what you think Wolf_

How do you know what I think about it?

Without waiting for an answer to appear Wolf closed the link between the computers. She had to get away from the cafe, it wouldn't take Su Ji too long to locate the computer and send someone over.

She was about to log off the computer when she noticed that two new e-mails had appeared in her account. Glancing at the time she clicked on the first anonymous message...

_The disc is in the open, repeat, the disc is in the open!_

Strange, thought Wolf, what disc? Perplexed she clicked on the second message...

_Hello again Michelle, long time no see! You wouldn't believe how long it took me to track down this address and you for that matter..._

_Now, you're probably sat there wondering why on earth I've decided to drop you a note after all this time... So I'll put you out of your misery, but to better explain I'll use the instant messenger so you'd better open it if you want to know more._

_Your old friend, the Mystery-Man_

On reading that name Wolf nearly jumped out of her skin, not him, anyone but him... But she had to know what the hell he was talking about... Taking a deep breath she opened the IM and waited for him to begin talking...

**Lioness' pov**

"Thanks for coming so quickly Kiwi" Lioness sighed as the pair walked out of the hospital doors.

"No prob, but man can your friend punch" Kiwi replied unlocking her shiny new sports car.

Lioness went silent for a moment before commenting "Nice car, how on earth did you afford it?"

"Well I did manage to afford it and before you start accusing me of hot-wiring, those days are far behind me now" Kiwi retorted before starting the engine and pulling out of the car park.

"Yeah, they're behind us all now"

"Well we've all got steady, decent and law abiding jobs now, except for Wolf, she's gotten herself deep into the criminal underworld, too deep, and I'm not the only one who thinks so... But there is the fact that..." Kiwi stopped remembering that Lioness didn't know about what was going on

"The fact that what?"

Seriously regretting her slip up Kiwi struggled to avoid the inevitable "Well, I'm not supposed to say and its rather a long story"

"Well its a long drive so spit it out before I have to force the truth out of you. I'm not stupid, I know that you have all been hiding something from me"

"Trust me, when you hear it you'll be thanking us"

"Well I can't until I hear what it is that you're all hiding" Retorted Lioness impatiently

Kiwi sighed heavily, she had hoped that she wouldn't be the one to tell Lioness the truth "Fine, but it's not a pretty story..."

**Axel and King's pov**

Meanwhile back in the Sign of the Seal Axel was pacing up and down their room whilst King was busy powering up his laptop.

"Will you cut that out its making me feel motion sick!" King snapped as he watched

But Axel kept on pacing until King had inserted the disc and once he had clicked on the icon to open it he came across and watched over King's shoulder. As the files opened it began to look like the data was all stored in a database of some sort.

Axel who was clearly impatient asked "What's it for?"

"How the Hell am I supposed to know? It hasn't even finished loading yet!" King answered back loudly in an uncharacteristic fashion, as he was starting to get very concerned and his calm nature was starting to wear thin under all the pressure.

As the data finally finished loading an input box appeared at the bottom of the database. On a sudden wave of thought Axel leaned over and typed a single word into it before clicking the 'Search Files' button. Almost immediately a page came up:

**Vixen**

Birth name: Victoria Regenalds

Age: 20

Gender: Female

Blood type: O -

Skin color: Tanned white

Eye color: Hazel

Hair color: Black

Nationality: American

IQ: 112

Medical Issues: None

Mental Issues: None

Profession: Bar worker

Current Status: Orange (Moderate Priority)

Included with the profile was a reasonably recent photograph of Vixen which they recognized instantly. King cautiously clicked on a tab labeled 'List all' and both gasped when the long list of names came up.

"My God, it's a hit list!"

The pair glanced at each other as they began to realize what was going on...

**Hawk and Shark's pov**

The rickety bus pulled up outside the club but this time it was a lot less crowded with only a handful of tourists and suspicious figures spread out through the vehicle. Only Shark and Hawk got off outside the all too familiar warehouse.

"So why are we here again?" Asked Shark, sounding rather confused already

In an uncharacteristically logical fashion Hawk replied "Well this is where that Vixen chick works so I think that it is a good place to start"

Shark raised his eyebrows "Okay so just how do you know that woman works here?"

"Well I was the one getting the drinks in last night and she was working at the bar"

"Typical of you to remember the female bar worker" Shark added rolling his eyes

The pair were soon inside again after being waved past by the same menacing bouncer but once he was sure that they had gone in the bouncer quietly ducked off and disappeared, probably for a cigarette.

"Come on let's check downstairs" Shark called

After a quick glance around the empty bar Hawk lead the way down the stairs to the club floor which although less crowded was still in full swing.

**Unknown pov**

In a dark, dilapidated room two dark figures sat, one at a laptop reading a new e-mail and the other was relaxing in a plastic chair until a mobile phone broke the silence. She sighed irritatedly and took her time before she sat up and picked up.

"What is it this time?" The answer was inaudible but was clearly not what she wanted to hear.

"You did what? What the Hell did you do that for? ... Did you check that it was gone? ... Dove you are not in a good position here! ... No, don't do anything yet ... He'll be right there, but boy are you in deep shit now. If this messes up... You'd better hope so, or you're dead meat" And without another word she snapped the phone shut in clear frustration.

The man at the computer turned around and asked in a heavy accent "Dove 'az messed up again 'as she?"

She nodded and sat beck in her chair "We're going to have to spring much earlier than we planned, but we have everything in place so it shouldn't be too much trouble"

"Should I be informing ze boss zen?" He said clicking on the 'new message' button, ready to send the e-mail.

"Not until this has been sorted out and we have something to show him for it all" She answered

"Zen I shall be informing ze others?" He said closing the laptop and reaching for a pager.

"_I_ shall send the call out, you go and see to Dove and her fuck up" She ordered as she stood up, took the pager off him and began typing.

Clearly irritated by the change in plan he got up and left muttering in some unintelligible language under his breath as he went...

**Wolf's pov**

Meanwhile back in the Internet cafe Wolf finally logged off the computer gladly and sprang up just as Andrew and Tiger pulled up outside. After her conversation with Mystery-Man she was most definitely not in the mood for a confrontation so she turned and slipped out the back entrance before they could spot her...

* * *

Well there we have it, chapter seven, a bit of a cliffy, or technically a few cliffys, there but I'm building up to a bit of a climax so... I hope all the different povs weren't too confusing, they all take place at the same time just in case you were wondering. And I really will update much quicker this time I promise...


	8. Gun Point

Hooray! I finally updated in a reasonably short time! This is a bit of an unusual point in the story as this chapter runs consecutively to the two next ones but they all revolve around different places and the characters in them. This chapter is what happens at the Sign of the Seal with Axel and King now that they've realised what the disc is... Thanks to the reviewers of the last chapter, **Magical Little Corner** and **Bunnylass**, your reviews are always appreciated.

**Disclaimer: **As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Dove, Vulture, etc, etc...

Gun Point

**Axel and King's pov**

"My God, this is unbelievable" Gasped Axel as he looked at the information on the screen of the laptop.

King and Axel had wasted no time in exploring the hit list database and were getting more and more concerned as they went. However the concern soon became a lot worse when they brought up the full list of names:

**Codename (Real Name) Status**

Black Bird (Mia Boston) Black

Panda (Peter Samas) Black

Lioness (Catalina Leone) Red

Seal (Celia Esterson) Black

Eagle (Eddy Herier) White

Cobra (Thomas Green) Yellow

Hyena (Fran Zentina) White

Golden Jackal (Jackie Simmons) Orange

Vixen (Vicky Regenalds) Orange

Vulture (Victor Davis) White

Rhino (Ryan Lester) Black

Kiwi (Alicia Nixon) Orange

Dolphin (Charlie Derby) Black

Unicorn (Nicky Parks) Yellow

Bat (Kert Paver) White

Dragon (Andrew Plato) Red

Albatross (Anna Martine) White

Raccoon (Ray Smith) Black

Wolf (Michelle Haydon) Red

Lynx (Lisa Stuart) Yellow

Panther (Robbie Patterson) Black

White Tiger (Katie Whiteston) Orange

Linsang (Ly Su Ji) Orange

Dove (Sarah Miller) White

"Woah, that's a lot of people to have a grudge against!" King stated, both impressed and worried. And on seeing the name Dove at the bottom of the list he clicked on it and sure enough when the profile and photograph came up it matched the red haired bitch.

**Dove**

Birth name: Sarah Miller

Age: 19

Gender: Female

Blood type: AB+

Skin color: White

Eye color: Green

Hair color: Red / Ginger

Nationality: American

IQ: 102

Medical Issues: None

Mental Issues: None

Profession: Bar worker

Skills: Gymnastics, Pin point accuracy with a gun

Current Status: White (Friendly)

Kills: 3

Missions Completed: 2 (1 pending completion)

Targets: Panda (Peter Samas) COMPLETE (DEAD)

Seal (Celia Eastwood)COMPLETE (DEAD)

Rhino (Ryan Lester) COMPLETE (DEAD)

Lioness (Catalina Leone)INCOMPLETE

Both of their jaws dropped, that flirtatious, nuisance of a bitch was a murderer! And more importantly Lioness was listed as one of her targets, the rest of whom were dead... Having clicked on the link they saw that their worst suspicions were confirmed.

**Lioness**

Birth name: Catalina Leone

Age: 19

Gender: Female

Blood type: OB +

Skin color: Pale Brown

Eye color: Gold

Hair color: Brown

Nationality: Brazilian

IQ: 109

Medical Issues: None

Mental Issues: None

Profession:

Current Status: Red (Absolute Priority)

The pair exchanged a horrified look as it all began to sink in and although many questions began to spring up it began answering others...

**Unknown pov**

The indistinguishable black van pulled up slowly on the opposite site of the road to the Sign of the Seal Hotel. An unusually tall man dressed all in black opened the passenger door and before he closed it turned to the driver.

"Drive slowly round the block and then park in that side street over there" He gestured across the road to a dark and dingy street "Wait in the car unless I call you, this shouldn't be too difficult but you never know, someone rather meddlesome might turn up"

He slammed the door without another word and marched arrogantly across the road, pausing only to pull up his collar to cover as much of his face as possible without arousing too much suspicion before disappearing through the large metal doors.

**Dove's pov**

Dove anxiously paced the floor of her hotel room, from Hyena's reaction on the phone she was in deep shit for losing the disc. She silently cursed herself, she had been so intent on getting even with Lioness that she had forgotten that she had left it in the dressing gown pocket. And now her little bit of fun, however useful it had been in getting Lioness away from her pesky friends, was going to bring the full force of Hyena's anger down on her...

She paused briefly in front of the door, Hyena had said that she was sending Vulture over. Dove shuddered, if she got so much as one syllable out of place it was game over. She was on thin ice and she did not want that blood thirsty Romanian hanging around to judge if it had cracked or not...

She cursed herself again as she thought back to the row in the lobby, there were a million things that she knew that she _should_ have done differently, but whether she _wanted_ to have done them differently was an entirely separate matter... That punch had even been worth it, just to see that look on Lioness' face...

Lioness and Dove had been enemies ever since the beginning, but that one incident had turned a harmless grudge into the war of hatred that it had now become...

"_You bitch, how could you do that!" Screamed a young Dove_

"_It's not my fault! You should have realised!" The young Lioness shouted back_

"_How could I, when you caused it all!" She yelled back again before launching at Lioness_

"_Okay you two, break it up. What's she done this time Dove?" The young Wolf barged between them and held them apart._

"_She... She..."_

A hard knock on the door pulled Dove back out of the memory. She hesitated before the knock was repeated, this time a lot harder. An irritated man burst into the room before she had even finished turning the door knob.

"What in Fucks name took you so bloody long?" He yelled

"I...I... I was.." She stammered

"Brooding again, you piece of shit?" He asked without letting her pull together an answer

"Sort of"

"Reminiscing about the day you nearly got yourself kicked out of the gang?"

Dove shrugged her shoulders in a vague way, not at all keen to set him of on that subject

"What the fuck did that bitch do that got you so bloody worked up?"

"She...She stole my boyfriend"

"That's it?"

Dove sighed, he was not in a good mood today. And sure enough as soon as that topic of conversation was clearly over he got down to the reason that he was stood there.

"So how did you manage to cock up this time?" He asked cutting straight to the chase

"I just forgot that I'd left it in the dressing gown pocket when I dropped it, that's all"

"Ah, too busy gloating about your revenge"

Dove made no reply, she just gave Vulture the most angry and evil look she could muster.

"What's the matter, ate some bad shrimp?"

She snorted loudly "No"

"Well then, we'd better get on with fixing you bloody mess"

"Do you know where they've gone?"

"The only two that currently matter, because they have got _our_ disc, are located in Room 261"

"Then what are we waiting for" Sensing his foul mood, she wanted to try and get the whole thing over with.

Vulture sighed silently, he had wanted to get her frustrated enough for him to be allowed to _discipline_ her, he loved dealing out punishments. He reluctantly pulled a pistol out from a hidden holster around his waist and handed it to her before pulling out his own.

Happy to be holding a gun again, Dove checked that he hadn't given her an empty one and then cocked it before marching across the room and put her hand on the door knob. "Ready?"

**Axel and King's pov**

Axel was tired of sitting around without doing anything to warn Lioness and the others. He jumped up to leave but King was too quick for him and grabbed hold of his collar. "Not so fast"

"But we've got to warn them!" He cried furiously

King shook his head and replied in a surprisingly calm voice "Not yet, we still haven't figured this out"

"What's there to figure out? That's a hit list, Lioness is on it for some reason and that bitch Dove is running around killing people!" Axel yelled back.

"It's not that simple and you know it isn't" King retorted trying to avoid an argument on top of everything else.

"Well the only way to get answers is to ask Lioness and that involves me going out now and finding her" He was getting very frustrated with King and was yelling so loudly that the entire hotel could hear him.

"Not true, this answers a lot of things"

"Like what?" Axel snapped

King was really starting to find it hard to keep his head in the onslaught "Well it tells us why Lioness didn't want to come here in the first place, why she's been acting so weird and it also tells us that she used to live here"

"But it doesn't tell us why she's on the list, or who all those other people are!" Axel shouted at him again, although with a bit less force.

"So it's answers you want"

The pair of them nearly jumped out of their skin as an unfamiliar voice interrupted their argument. Sat on the railings of the fire escape outside the open window was Wolf, looking rather amused by the fight.

"Who the Hell are you?" Started Axel, and although he wasn't shouting his voice was still much louder than it normally was.

"You're polite" Wolf retorted sarcastically

"That wasn't the question" He said in an irritated undertone

"Fine, the name's Michelle but I go by Wolf in these parts" She answered coyly.

King glanced at the list and sure enough there she was; Wolf, Real name: Michelle Haydon. He clicked on name as she sat there in silence watching their every move.

**Wolf**

Birth Name: Michelle Haydon

Age: 22

Gender: Female

Blood type: O -

Skin colour: Tanned white

Eye colour: Blue

Hair colour: Dark brown

Nationality: English

IQ: 136

Medical Issues: Bulimic

Mental Issues: Suffers from Severe paranoia and Clinical depression

Profession: Co-owner of Club 24/7 also mercenary for the gangs of Rio

Current Status: Red (Absolute Priority)

There was no doubt about it when the photo came up, and whoever she was Wolf seemed to be important.

"So, done consulting that hit list?" She inquired politely yet with a hint of sarcasm in her voice

"How do you know what it is?" Asked a surprised King

"Intuition" Came her quiet reply

"So, are you going to tell us what is going on here?" Snapped Axel, he was still in a dreadfully foul mood.

"I could" She answered evasively

"Okay, why are you, Lioness and loads of other people on this list?" King said before the moody Axel could say anything

Wolf sighed "Well, that's a long story... But as this seems to be of concern to you. I'd probably better start right at the beginning..."

But before she could say another word the door to the room was kicked open and Dove, calm as anything, walked in.

"Well, well, well. Fancy seeing you here Wolf" She smiled in a matter of fact way

"So come out of the shadows about what you are then?" Wolf replied, who seemed not in the least bit surprised about the sudden interruption.

"What do you mean by that?" Snapped the red head

"Oh I was just saying that you'd finally revealed yourself as a traitor, everyone here already knows what an irritating, big headed bitch you are already"

"Why you..." Began Dove in clear hatred before the voice of Vulture came in from just outside the door.

"Dove what is taking you so bloody fucking long?" And without letting her answer first the moody Romanian strutted into the room.

"Vulture!" Now Wolf seemed genuinely gob smacked as she nearly fell off her perch in shock.

"Ah, I had a feeling that you might turn up Wolf"

"But... But... You're Dead" She stammered in an unusually high pitched voice

"But I'm clearly not as I am standing right here. You can ask that nosy idiot, I'm still listed as alive on the list unless I've suddenly died without noticing"

Dove had to stifle a giggle, even though he was the most moody and irritable person on the planet Vulture did have some funny moments.

"What are you sniggering at you insolent fuck head?" He snapped at her, clearly not in the mood for joking around.

"Nothing" She replied curtly, suppressing the giggles.

"Well, we can't just stand around here forever, someone is bound to notice what's going on. So get on with fixing your cock up Dove"

"Right then" Rounding on King as he sat in front of his laptop "Eject the disc" And when he did nothing added in a sterner tone "Now"

"Actually, you don't need to do that" Wolf interrupted suddenly as King was about to hand over the important disc. She had got of the railing now and was now stood on the windowsill, a revolver pointed at Dove.

"Oh give it up Wolf" Sighed Vulture frustratedly as he pointed his pistol at her.

"Why are you so keen to get that disc back anyway? Everyone important on it knows about it already"

"Ah, that'll have to remain secret I'm afraid"

"You do like saying 'ah', don't you"

The sides of Vulture's mouth flicked up slightly in what could only be assumed to be a smile "Indeed Wolf, but that doesn't get you anywhere about why we need the disc back"

"Well it's rather obvious from here. You want that back so that we can't trace who you are all working for"

The slight smile on Vulture's face was rapidly replaced with an angry scowl "So you think that you've worked it out"

"I know so, and please don't try smiling again, it really doesn't suit you"

He snarled viciously and leapt at her, completely forgetting that he had a gun and could easily of just shot her. He was however a bit too slow and Wolf dodged him easily.

"Ahem" Dove cleared her throat loudly to remind the pair that she was still there "Wolf just drop it or my finger might slip and accidentally kill one of them"

"Oh don't act so big and powerful Sarah, I still remember you quaking in your socks whenever Vulture used to shout at you"

"And still does too" Added Vulture snidely

"Hey, you're supposed to be on my side remember?" Dove snapped

Vulture was about to reply when a loud car horn blasted through the air and interrupted them. "Ah, that bloody fool, I told him to wait quietly... Oh well" He aimed his gun at Wolf and indicting to the fire escape. "After you"

Seeing Wolf's hesitation Dove quickly added "Go, or I swear to God I will blast their brains out"

Sighing she dropped the gun but before she disappeared down the stairs with Vulture behind her added "I thought you didn't believe in God"

Dove turned her attention back to Axel and King who had both had the good sense to remain quiet the whole time. Axel was very tempted to attack Dove with his Jo-Lan now that her backup had gone but the fact that she was aiming a loaded gun at King had stopped him.

After a couple of minutes Vulture returned "Got the disc yet?"

"Almost" And without another word she snatched the disc out of King's hand.

She was about to leave through the window when Vulture stopped her "Not so fast, your mess isn't completely fixed yet"

She turned and glanced across at Axel and King who were on the point of sneaking out of the door. Absent-mindedly she raised her gun and pointed it at them "Well?" She added to Vulture.

He paused and thought for a moment "We'll have to take them as well" He said reluctantly

Clearly disappointed Dove tried to change his mind "Can't I just shot them?"

"No Dove, this is a zero body count situation" He reminded her sternly

She let out a heavy sigh and shepherded the two of them out of the window and down to the black van that was waiting below quietly, not even trying to hide her constant longing looks of glancing from King and Axel to her gun and back.

Vulture helped her shove them roughly into the back of the van where Wolf was already sat, tied up. But when he caught another loud sigh from her direction told her "Don't worry Dove. Now that your cock up has been sorted out I'm sure that once we've finished with them Hyena won't mind letting you have the honour of killing them"

She lit up at once and with a last evil glance at them and a happy, gloating smile slammed the back door of the van shut.

* * *

By the way Vulture was the unknown guy in the last chapter but I stopped bothering with editing all his speech to show his accent as it takes _forever_... So I'm afraid you'll all just have to imagine the accent. But there we have it, chapter eight and now as I have finally updated on time I can realistically promise to get the next chapter up as soon as possible... See you then!


	9. A Restaurant Shoot Up

Back again, and in good time! Now it's on to Chapter 9. The second of the three consecutive chapters now, this one is centered around Lioness, Kiwi, a few others and the restaurant where Kiwi and Nicky, who appeared briefly in chapter one, work. Thank you to **Bunnylass**, **CatalinaManning** and **Ariel34652** for reviewing the previous chapter, your comments are much appreciated. By the way there is swearing, violence and blood coming up so be warned.

**Disclaimer: **As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Dove, Vulture, etc, etc...

A Restaurant Shoot Up

**Lioness' pov**

Kiwi sighed heavily, she had hoped that she wouldn't be the one to tell Lioness the truth "Fine, but it's not a pretty story..."

"It all started way back just after you left Rio for good. Wolf was understandably beside herself when she found out that you were gone, never forgiven herself if you ask me. Anyway she kept disappearing and none of us knew where she was going or what she was doing, Panther took it very personally and after a month of so of it he finally snapped and confronted her. Most of us saw what happened, and I can't say that we weren't all eager to hear what her excuse was. It was horrible... He started shouting at her, calling her all sorts of horrible stuff, then she started shouting back at him and then he... he threw a chair at her..."

Kiwi paused for a moment to regain her composure before continuing the explanation.

"It hit her and it cut her really badly, he stormed out before we could stop him and you should have seen Andrew, he was beside himself and nearly ran off after him. But we stopped him. Wolf slipped off quietly before any of us could help her, but I'm sure I saw her crying. We didn't see her again for weeks afterwards when we finally saw her again she was really pale and thin. But the day after the fight we got a call from the police. Panther had been... He'd been... Murdered..."

Another longer pause followed that as Kiwi momentarily focused on the road fully and tried to fight back tears. Lioness said nothing and sat quietly, in a mild state of shook, waiting for her to continue the story.

Taking a very deep breath Kiwi continued "After that the gang was a little strained, some of us were shocked, others said he deserved it and a few of them blamed Wolf. Ever since then the feds have been hopping around us all like hyper kangaroos. But then it slowly became worse. Someone was picking us off, one by one. It happened very slowly so the police didn't catch on to what was happening, it was a couple of months before the second one..."

Kiwi tailed off and for the first time since the story started Lioness spoke "Who else?"

"Hyena, Vulture, Dolphin, Rhino, Black Bird, Panda, Seal and Raccoon"

"That can't be right, I saw Vulture the other day"

Kiwi accidentally turned the steering wheel violently in shock, almost causing them to run into a street light "What!"

"I passed him in the Botanical Gardens yesterday"

"You're positive it was him?"

"Well if I hadn't been sure I wouldn't have dived into a bush and made myself look like an idiot"

Kiwi raised her eyebrows "You dived into a bush?"

"Yes, and don't give me that look, I just wasn't ready to run into any of you at that point"

"But still, a bush?"

"Oh shut up" She cried then asked suddenly "Where are we going?"

"The Bronze Panda, I work there" Kiwi answered

"I thought you worked at the club?"

"Yes but only part time, Tiger's the real pro. She's helping to train me up"

"Only work between you two?" Lioness asked slyly

"Hey!" Cried Kiwi, but kept her eyes firmly on the road

"Just asking" And after a brief pause "So is there?"

"Oh for God's sake, are you going to leave this if I choose not to answer?"

Lioness shook her head and waited.

"Fine, you're right. We've been going out for a couple of months. And no more on that subject" She smiled as she turned the car into the car park of the Bronze Panda and parked up.

"Kiwi, I've been wondering ever since I arrived about the name of the hotel..." Lioness said as they came to a halt.

"About the name? Yes Celia did set up The Sign of the Seal, its been going for a couple of years. I'm not sure who owns it now" Replied Kiwi in a very matter of fact tone

"And this restaurant?"

"Peter set it up around the same time, those two were going out for ages before they were... Killed" She answered her, struggling with that last terrible word

"And now?"

"Nicky's running things here" Then after locking the car "Shall we go in?"

**Nicky's pov**

It was one of the busiest hours at The Bronze Panda Restaurant and the Head chef and owner of the restaurant Nicky Parks was getting frustrated. Kiwi was late and Anna had disappeared off somewhere. She sighed and banged down a large saucepan to vent her irritation, making Lynx jump as she brought over some emptied plates.

"Jesus Christ, what's gotten into you today?" Asked the surprised waitress

"Oh its nothing, just the fact that two of my most important members of staff have vanished" Nicky cried angrily

"No need to spare my feelings Nicky"

"Sorry"

Lynx laughed "Don't worry about it, I was only joking" And picking up two more orders she turned and took them over to the costumers.

Nicky had just gone over to the staff phone at the back when Kiwi walked in through the back door. "Where on earth were you?"

"At the Hospital"

"Really? Is everything okay hon?" But just at that moment Nicky spotted Lioness as she came in and her jaw dropped.

"Nice to see you to Nicky" Lioness stated uncomfortably, she hated having to explain herself to every member of the gang she came across

"When... When did you get back?" Stammered the shocked Nicky

"A couple of days ago" She answered simply

But before any of them could say anymore Lynx leant back across the counter "Has Anna actually turned up today?"

"Yes" Nicky replied quickly, wanting to talk to Lioness.

Lynx withdrew, satisfied for a moment before doing a double take "Lioness?"

"What? Where?" Came a voice from behind her and Jackal appeared across the counter "Bloody Hell, how long have you been hiding out there for?"

"A few minutes. So why are you here?" Lioness asked, rather annoyed that another old friend had turned up and would want an explanation.

"Meeting a good friend, and you?" Jackal returned the question, content to ask few pressing questions for the moment.

"At this moment, talking to Kiwi" She stated simply

"Does Wolf know that you're here?" Came the next question

"Do you really think that I'm mad enough to tell her that I'm back?" Lioness answered with a note of annoyance in her voice now.

"Fair point" Jackal took the hint and retreated back behind the counter before quickly reappearing. "Is Anna on duty?"

"She's supposed to be, why?" Answered Nicky

Jackal opened her mouth to reply but before she could get any words out the busy restaurant erupted into chaos.

"Everybody on the floor now!" The newly reappeared Anna shouted at the top of her voice, following up with a burst of gun fire directed at the ceiling.

As the customers all tried frantically to get to the floor Jackal and Lynx took advantage of the pandemonium by vaulting over the counter and crouching behind it with the others.

"She's bloody insane!" Nicky cried, hardly audible above the gun fire.

"Her and him both you mean!" Added Jackal as Eddy's voice became audible above all the screaming and shotting.

"How the Hell did they get guns in here without us knowing?" Kiwi wondered to herself as they crouched there in almost silence.

"How did they get them in the first place without Wolf or Su Ji discovering?" Answered Lynx

"You know, right now that really doesn't matter!" Nicky said exasperatedly

"Well at least we know who the traitors are now" Kiwi reasoned

"Oh great, we're about to be killed, but it's okay, we know who's gonna pull the God damn trigger!" Lynx whispered irritatedly.

"You really don't do sarcasm do you?" Kiwi answered turning to look at her

"Stop bickering you two!" Snapped Nicky, rather louder than she intended to.

"Someone's in there!" Came Anna's voice from the main restaurant as she reloaded her machine gun.

"Go and make sure that they don't get out!" Eddy shouted back as he resumed his scaring tactics by firing up in the air again.

As the sound of Anna turning the handle of the kitchen door Nicky slammed her back against it to force it shut again. A loud cry of pain broke the air followed by Anna cursing loudly "There is no escape Nicky! I will get in there and I will get you!"

Nicky looked over at the other five "You have to get out of here" She whispered so as not to let Anna hear her.

Kiwi nodded grimly and turned to Jackal and Lynx "You two must get Lioness out of here"

"No, We're not leaving you two here" Replied Lynx as a loud, muffled bang emitted from where Anna had started to kick the door

"Well someone has to get Lioness away" Kiwi retorted and looked nervously over at the kitchen door.

"Why? I can fight just as well as you!" Lioness butted in

"Don't argue, we don't have much time! It can be explained later" Kiwi whispered furiously

"I'll take her, Lisa can stay here if she wants" Jackal volunteered quietly

They all nodded in agreement and exchanged one last glance as a particularly heavy kick made the door begin to buckle. "Go" Kiwi gave the pair a shove towards the exit and turned away to face the fast breaking door.

"Come on!" Jackal pulled Lioness viciously towards their escape as Anna's leg broke through. But at the sound of the infuriated traitor shattering the only thing that stood between them she needed no more encouragement. They broke into a crouched run and were soon at the back door.

Jackal pushed it open silently and pulled her hesitating friend after her as she ran out into the car park. More screams emitted from the building far closer than before, mingled with the sound of machine gun fire, Anna had broken through. Not waiting about to get caught Jackal made a dash for her car, unfortunately parked around the front, in full view of Eddy inside the restaurant.

Although he caught sight of her and fired, Eddy was no match for Jackal's agility and speed and she ducked down behind her car safely. She beckoned furiously at Lioness who was still standing by the exit but now Eddy had caught on and was heading for the door. A few seconds and she was there.

"Quick" Jackal wrenched open the door and leapt into the driver's seat.

Lioness jumped in and slammed the door behind her as the engine roared into life and Jackal floored the accelerator.

**Back Inside...**

Anna knocked Lynx easily to the floor causing her to lose conciousness. The irritated blonde glanced around the ruined kitchen. Eddy had disappeared off outside after Jackal, the cowardly bitch... Kiwi was sprawled on the floor, a deep gash in her shoulder, out cold. Laying slumped against the counter was Nicky, she had paid for standing up to her. Most of the chef's blood had left her body, soaking her clothes and wetting the floor but her now sightless eyes knew none of it...

The trio had put up a good fight, but with no weapons they had all fallen in the end although it had taken Anna longer than she had wanted. A quick glance over the counter showed the devastation in the main restaurant. A few customers were still there, fearing for their lives and not brave enough to make a break for it like some of the others. The majority of the braver ones had escaped, wounded but none the less alive. It was only a matter of time now before the Police turned up, but they wouldn't catch them not now, not ever.

"Damn them!" Eddy stormed angrily back into the building, kicking a nearby table to vent his frustration "They got away!"

"They?" Anna quired, slightly confused

"Yes they, Jackal and Lioness" He snapped back at her, obviously more angry than usual as he never talked to Anna like that.

"Lioness is back?" She asked, barely able to hide the surprise on her face.

"Yes, and a red level priority. If _she_ finds out that we let her give us the slip..." He trailed off

"Well, we won't tell her, and what she doesn't know won't hurt us" Reasoned Anna logically in her snide tone, pausing before adding "Come in here and help me tie them up"

"What about them?" He asked, gesturing to the cowering costumers

"I'll watch them, I've got something planned" Was all he was being told

The pair switched places and Eddy tied up both Lynx and Kiwi before turning to Nicky.

"She's dead" He stated, surprised and shocked

"That softy got what was coming to her, that's all"

"Still, dead bodies can help them find us" He pointed out

"There won't be any bodies you idiot" Snapped Anna

Eddy raised his eyebrows quizzically at her, even he didn't know what Anna had up her sleeve.

"Just call the van" She ordered barely looking up from what she was occupied with.

He walked slowly out of the door and whistled loudly. Within seconds an unmarked black van pulled up in front of him. "Wait here" He ordered, going back in to get Anna.

"Should I take them?" Asked Eddy as he looked at the tied up women.

Anna looked up from what she was doing on the counter and glanced at the motionless figures "Take Kiwi, she may be useful, but leave Lynx"

He nodded and followed her orders before returning. She let him stand there while she finished what she was doing. On the counter in front of her was a battered blue holdall, the same one Eddy had brought back from Landmark City, wires led from inside it and were connected to a nearby power socket. She pressed a switch hidden inside it and a satisfying beep told her that it was ready.

"You'd better go and get in the van" She ordered and made sure that he was out before going into the kitchen and switching the gas on for all the hobs. Smiling evilly to herself she took one last glance around and returned to the main room where the few face-down costumers remained "Stay down if you value your lives" She ordered and left the building.

As soon as she was in the van the driver fired the ignition and they pulled away. Once they were a safe distance away Anna pulled out a remote control and pressed the button on it...

* * *

I hope that this chapter wasn't too overdone for you... I have updated on time once again and I promise to get Chapter Ten up soon... Bye for now.


	10. Murder on the Dance Floor

Time for Chapter 10 now. The last of the three consecutive chapters, based in Club 24/7 with Shark, Hawk and any remaining members of the gang. Thanks to **Ariel34652** and **Bunnylass** for reviewing Chapter 9, much appreciated.

**Disclaimer: **As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Dove, Vulture, etc, etc...

* * *

Murder on the Dance Floor

**Hawk and Shark's pov**

"Come on let's check downstairs" Shark called

After a quick glance around the empty bar Hawk led the way down the stairs to the club floor which although less crowded was still in full swing.

"So what now then?" Asked Hawk

"Ask someone who works here I guess"

"And we know who works here how?"

"Well we could start with her" Shark pointed to a black haired woman who had just left the DJ platform on the other side of the room and Hawk was suddenly all for going over and talking to her.

"Hey gorgeous" Hawk started

"Bye irritating" She replied without even looking at him, dismissing the chance of conversation as she turned and walked away towards the other side of the room where some of her equipment was sitting.

But before she could get very far Shark stepped in the way "Hi there, we were wondering if we could ask you if you'd seen our friend?"

She looked him straight in the face before stepping around him "What makes you think that I've seen your friend?"

"Well someone who works here seemed to know her so..." Shark answered

"So you assumed that I would too, _wonderful logic_" She interrupted

"Well do you know who might?" He asked, ignoring her sarcasm

She sighed and begrudgingly replied "If she's been here recently then Su Ji might be able to help"

"Su Ji?"

The woman turned and pointed to a camera fixed to the ceiling "Su Ji's the woman behind the cameras, she works up on the first floor. But the only way up is the elevator which you need clearance for. So unless you're good at climbing then it looks like I'll have to show you up there, I'll just be a sec"

"So, what's your name?" Asked Hawk slyly, still trying to chat her up.

"Oh right, I'm Katie Whiteston, and before you ask I've got a girlfriend" She replied as she quickly checked her stuff and made sure that it was all locked up and ready to go.

"Girlfriend?" Hawk gasped

"Yes, her name's Alicia, she works here part time." She caught Hawk's horrified face "And if you don't feel comfortable being around a woman who dates other women then I won't bother helping you"

"No, don't be silly, we're fine with it" Shark butted in quickly before Hawk could open his mouth to say anything.

"Then your friend needs a face transplant" Katie stated bluntly as she finished checking her equipment. Straightening up she turned and led them over to the elevator and swiped her ID card in the slot next to it to open the doors.

The door slid open silently and Katie stepped in. The boys were about to follow when a wave of noise swept through the club The clubbers all screamed and hit the floor as fast as they could when a round of gunfire resounded through the room.

"Get in!" She cried and slammed her fist on the 'close doors' button.

They only just leapt in before the doors closed behind them and the lift shifted uneasily into very jerky motion. A few moments later and the doors opened to reveal a smallish room filled with computer equipment and lots of other junk.

"Looks like somebody down there has gone a little bit trigger happy" Su Ji commented spinning round in her chair to face them as Shark and Hawk followed Katie out of the elevator and into the office.

"What the Hell did you bring them up here for?" Andrew asked suddenly from out of the shadows next to the door, making the newcomers jump.

"And what are you hiding there for?" Replied Katie, not at all surprised to find her boss hiding in the shadows. She was used to that sort of behavior, just more from Wolf than Andrew.

"To surprise whoever it is when they come up here to get us" He stated matter of factly, not keen to start a conversation.

Katie wasn't bothered about his unwillingness to talk either, ever since that fight with Wolf and the fact that they had lost her at that internet cafe he had been rather more moody than usual "Well then are you going to tell me who it is causing all this commotion then?" She asked Su Ji, who was always a lot better in the realm of communication.

"Of course" Su Ji answered "I can show you if you'd prefer"

Completely ignoring the two uncomfortable visitors Katie pulled up a chair next to Su Ji and examined the screen intently. "You mean to tell me that Kert has gone berserk and pulled out a machine gun?"

"Basically, yes"

"So he's our traitor then?"

"One of them, yes"

"What do you mean one of them?"

But before Su Ji could answer her the feed from the camera in the elevator caught their attention. Standing there staring fight into the camera was Hyena. "I know you're up there Su Ji so don't bother trying to hide from us when we come to find you" She called, loud enough for them to pick up on easily before raising her gun and destroying the camera.

Su Ji and Katie sat there for a moment, too shocked at the sudden reappearance of the supposedly dead gang member to do anything. But the sound of the elevator motors whirring slowly into action brought them both back to the present.

Su Ji immediately started trying to cut off the electricity to the elevator motors but to no avail "Oh for God's sake!" She cried furiously, punching the keyboard.

"You three had better get out before they arrive" Andrew stated suddenly, as they watched Su Ji getting more and more frustrated.

"Out, where?" Asked Hawk

"The roof stupid, unless you want to end up dead!" Katie snapped pushing them out onto the roof and making them hide to the side of the doorway so that they wouldn't be seen.

"Damn it! It's not working!" Su Ji yelled and nearly punched through the screen in her frustration, she wasn't used to encountering problems she couldn't fix, especially in her own system.

"Don't worry about that now, just try and see what's going on down there!" Ordered Andrew in an attempt to get her to calm down.

Taking a deep breath the panicking computer expert checked the feeds from the cameras. Four were down, presumably destroyed. The camera over the entrance showed nothing of any importance, just an unmarked black van. The remaining camera in the bar showed a much grimmer scene, Thomas (Aka Cobra) the security guard had been killed, trying to stop the armed men getting in no doubt. In the main club Kert (Aka Bat) was making sure that none of the hostages got away, his machine gun ready to shoot the next person to move.

She was about to tell Andrew what she'd seen when the elevator doors slid open slowly and Hyena stepped out followed by the large menacing bouncer.

"Long time no see Su Ji. Miss me?" Hyena sneered, grinning evilly at the sight of Su Ji's face.

However Hyena never got an answer to her question as Andrew suddenly smacked her around the head with a heavy book knocking her to the ground, unconscious.

"So David, they paying you for this?" He asked casually, the book still in his hands

"Yeah, so what?"

"Nothing" Andrew answered before hitting him over the head as well.

"Andrew!" Su Ji cried, before he could hit either of them again "I think that's enough!"

Just then Katie poked her head around the empty door frame of the exit "You guys coming or what?"

**A while later, Hyena's pov **

"Ahh, my head" Hyena sat up holding a hand to her aching head. The last thing she remembered was stepping out of the elevator and seeing Su Ji... "Damn them, Andrew must have been waiting to ambush us"

For the first time since regaining consciousness she looked around her. The room was almost exactly as she remembered it, only now there was a large, heavy book lying next to her and a chair was flat on the floor. Then she got a nasty shock, David was on the floor next to her, blood on the side of his face. She leant over and felt for a pulse, there was none.

Oh well, she thought, he was only hired. She got up shakily and made her way slowly over to the computer, Kert was still waiting downstairs with the hostages. It was then that she noticed the empty doorway leading out onto the roof. Hyena slowly and shakily walked over to it and looked out, there was no sign of anyone.

"Damn it! They're gone!" She murmured, her head was still pounding.

She turned slowly and walked back over to the elevator kicking the body out of the way. As it descended to street level she felt the back of her head properly. Feeling something sticky she looked down at the hand that she had used, it was covered in her blood. She felt woozy, but that was probably just the pain from her head, blood didn't bother her at all, except when it was coming out of her...

The doors opened and she vaguely heard a few whimpers from the nearest hostages. "We're leaving"

"What? Why? Where are they?" Kert asked, clearly confused by the sudden decision to go and the lack of prisoners.

"They got away, and no more questions" She snapped as she walked as quickly as possible across the room.

"Is something wrong boss?"

"I told you no more questions! Now come on, or I'll have you strung up from the nearest camera!" She replied angrily, all she wanted was to get back to base and get her head looked at.

Kert shrugged, he wasn't particularly bothered, all he wanted was to shoot some more prisoners but from the looks of it Hyena wasn't in the mood. Before he followed her up the staircase he turned back to the clubbers "All of you stay down and count to a thousand before you even think about moving!" With an extra burst of gunfire to emphasize the point he turned and ran up the stairs of Hyena.

She was rather pissed off when he turned up, the gunfire had really made her head ache even more unbearably. "Do any more showing off and..."

"I know" He interrupted as they got into the van "Or you'll have me strung up from the nearest camera" And slammed the door behind him.

* * *

There we are, I don't like this one as much as the others, it seemed a bit rushed to me... Oh well, see you in Chapter 11...


	11. The Calm Before The Storm

Woah, really sorry to everyone for not updating in so long, I bet you were surprised to see a new chapter up! Anyway there were several reasons for my prolonged lack of updates and I'm not going to bore you all with it. Thank you to **Bunnylass**, **MagikDragon**, **Craz14**, **Ariel34652**, **Diamond-Baby94**, **Arwen16** and **Beccaxoxo704** for reviewing Chapter 10, I promise to try not wait so long between updates again!

**Disclaimer: **As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Kiwi, Hyena, Dove, Vulture, etc, etc...

* * *

The Calm Before The Storm

**Wolf's pov**

Wolf leant her head back against the cold hard stone of the cellar in which she was locked. The room was relatively dark, the only light came from a dim bulb hanging from the centre of the ceiling but the corner in which she was sat was completely dark. If one could have seen it the expression on her face would have been enough to tell you that she knew where they were and what was going to happen. She knew that they were as good as dead...

In a lighter part of the prison Axel and King were sat, both looked extremely worried, but not nearly worried enough... Occasionally one of the pair would shoot a fugitive glance at her but Wolf was not in the mood to humour stupid tourists. They clearly knew nothing about what was going on, obviously Lioness hadn't told them about her childhood.

This had been coming a long time, Wolf was fully aware of what had, and probably still was, going down in Rio tonight. But then again, Vulture turning up had been a turn of events she certainly hadn't expected. It was very hard not to imagine that other dead members of the gang might pop up at any point, even though some of them she might not mind seeing again...

The cellar in which the three of them were locked was a good size but couldn't accommodate any more prisoners, which Wolf knew to expect. It was situated a few feet underground and so the only way in or out of the cell was a narrow tunnel which lead past several other cellar rooms and up to a rickety building. The door to the cell was large and made of hardened oak with thick metal bars running across its width.

The attention of all three prisoners turned immediately to the door as they heard the sound of muffled footsteps coming down the tunnel towards them. Wolf frowned as she listened in closer, three people walking, another being dragged. The sound of someone rustling with keys came through the closed door before it was pushed open suddenly. Vulture was at the door with Kert and Dove, the later pair were dragging a kicking Kiwi between them. Happy to get rid of her they hurled her into the cell with the others, Dove giving a smile of satisfaction as she made of noise of pain as her injured shoulder hit the hard floor.

"Enjoy your stay!" Vulture called before locking the door again and leaving with the pair.

As soon as the door was shut Wolf leapt up and went to help Kiwi, untying her and helping her back to her feet. However as soon as she was untied Kiwi put her head in her hands and slid to the floor again.

"What happened Alicia?" Wolf asked concernedly, crouching down to keep her eyes level with her friend's.

"Eddy and Anna, that's what! They took over the Panda and..."

"And?" Wolf prompted gently.

"They... They blew it up!"

"What!"

Kiwi nodded grimly before adding "That's not the worst of it either, Nicky and Lisa were still inside ..."

"Oh shit" Wolf gasped leaning back against the wall in horror.

The pair sat in silence for a moment before King suddenly asked "Who are they?"

Kiwi just buried her head in her hands again and Wolf rounded viciously on the clueless teenager "Friends, and you have no business eavesdropping on our conversation!"

"Well it's kind of hard not to..." King struggled, despite his strength he was daunted by the mysterious woman.

"That doesn't make it okay!" She continued, her temper flaring up at nothing due to her frustration at getting caught and the danger of their current situation.

"Who are you to be lecturing us, you're the reason we're in this mess!" Axel retorted, not in the least bit intimidated by Wolf.

"That's not true, you got yourselves into it by messing with Dove!" She shouted back, almost ready to stand up and wallop the ignorant teenager.

Axel couldn't think of anything to say to that and the cell lapsed back into a tense silence. Axel and King went back to sitting dejectedly in their corner of the cellar. Kiwi stayed where she was, head still in her hands trying to forget what had happened and praying that Katie and the others were all right. Wolf simply leant back against her darkened piece of wall closing her eyes to allow time to flow past her and to mentally escape the walls of her prison...

**Hyena's pov**

Hyena sat relaxing back into her plastic chair twirling a pistol around her finger and feeling the bandages around her head with her free hand. Vulture sat at his usual place with his laptop on top of a crate, while Kert, Anna and Eddy played poker in the corner. Dove leant against the wall near the door to the cellars polishing her pair of pistols carefully like a mother.

Suddenly Vulture snorted in amusement, Hyena looked up from twirling her gun and snapped "What the Hell is your problem?"

"Have a look at this" He replied, getting out of his chair and gesturing at his laptop screen.

Sighing heavily Hyena eased herself up out of the chair and walked slowly over to sit in front of Vulture's screen, taking care not to move too fast and make her head spin. The screen was taken up with a web page, most of which was occupied by a live news broadcast:

"Well Max, it seems that there have been two severe incidents around Rio today involving armed terrorists.

The first of these incidents was at the Bronze Panda Restaurant, set up a few years ago by the late Peter Samas who was murdered just a few months ago in his apartment in downtown Rio. An explosion was reported at the site an hour or so ago and the remains of an explosive device have been recovered.

From witness reports we have established that a man and woman entered the Restaurant carrying a blue holdall. Minutes later they went into the toilets and returned moments later, armed with machine guns. They then proceeded to shoot up the Restaurant and while the man stood guard over the captive costumers the woman went into the kitchen and the sounds of fighting and gunfire were heard. The woman proceeded to set up the explosive device and the man took a woman, possibly the missing Alicia Nixon, and threw her into an unmarked black van. The pair then proceeded to leave the premises and most of the costumers ran to call the police. Some however stayed put for unknown reasons. It is assumed that the device was detonated by the pair a safe distance from the premises.

The body of the current owner, Nicky Parks, has been found amidst the wreckage along with the unidentified bodies of several costumers and Lisa Stuart, a long term friend of both Peter and Nicky and a waitress at the Restaurant.

But not long after fire crews, paramedics and the police turned up a second incident was reported at the popular Club 24/7. Apparently armed men and another woman assaulted the building with inside help from Kert Paver, one of the club's resident DJs. The bodies of both Thomas Green and David Breton have been recovered although several people are reported to be missing from the club.

Andrew Plato the co-owner, Ly Su Ji the surveillance technician, Katie Whiteston another resident DJ and two American tourists have also disappeared, Zach Hawkes and Ollie Sharker who were last seen in the Club.

These incidents have lead to much speculation about the connection between the victims of these incidents as many of them have been reported as having links to victims of the series of Rio murders…"

"We're all famous!" Cried Eddy in a joking way, although from all the disdainful looks he then received from his colleagues he regretted opening his mouth.

"Infamous you mean!"Corrected Kert, he and Eddy enjoyed a good banter although with anyone else he was almost as grouchy and blunt as Vulture.

"And just the way it should be" Dove smirked triumphantly coming over to get a view of the screen and the devastation shown.

"You'd just better hope that no evidence is left linking our names with it all..." Vulture threatened, his usual menacing and moody manner returned.

"Hmm... Poor Dove, it seems they haven't caught wind of your little incident..."Anna suddenly added scathingly, the pair had a nice and healthy rivalry going, to put it simply they loathed each other, almost more than they both hated the other girls from the gang.

"Your attention please, another incident has been reported at the Sign of the Seal Hotel! We don't know much at the moment but apparently from CCTV footage it has been deduced that a red headed woman with a gun broke into room 261 where two American tourists were staying. Crey Kingston and Axel Manning have not been seen since and are assumed missing. It is also suspected that Michelle Haydon, the infamous co-owner of Club 24/7 and mercenary with known connections to the gangster underworld, was also involved although from what we are getting it seems that she is missing as well…"

"Ha! See they think Wolf did it! Poor little Dove!"Anna mocked in pleasure, relishing the look of pure venom that Dove shot at her.

"They mentioned me you idiot!" She snapped back, receiving another poisonous look in return.

"Fortunately they didn't you shit head! It's better if they think the infamous Wolf did it, that gives us both cover and leverage" Vulture growled, making both women stop giving each other evils and Dove turn slightly pale.

"Careful you don't wet yourself there Dove" Muttered Eddy under his breath so that Vulture and Dove didn't hear but made Kert snigger quietly and Anna smirk evilly.

"Stop being idiots you lot!" Hyena snapped at them all "This isn't the time for games, six targets are still on the loose, the police are starting to get wise to us and our deadline is getting closer!"

"Still..." Eddy muttered under his breath again.

"No, I'm going to go see to Wolf. Vulture, you're coming. The rest of you, do something useful and don't forget that the rest of the targets could still turn up here" She ordered getting up out of the chair a little too fast and swayed on the spot for a moment before walking off into the tunnel both slowly and unsteadily.

Vulture followed equally slowly to not risk a telling off but making the other four smile rather bemusedly. As soon as the two bosses had disappeared from sight Dove glanced at the others rather scornfully and went to lean against the wall and polish her guns again. The other three took no heed of Hyena's orders and walked back to their poker game.

* * *

Sorry this chapter doesn't have much action in it but that's all coming back soon, see you again in Chapter 12!


	12. The Favela of Demons

Back again, and in just _one week_! Wow I wonder what's gotten into me! This chapter is based with Lioness, Shark, Hawk and the rest of the gang as they decide what they are going to do... Thanks to **LiLiAnKa**, **Arwen16**, **Bunnylass**, **Craz14** and **Beccaxoxo704** for your reviews of the last chapter.

**Disclaimer: **As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Kiwi, Hyena, Dove, Vulture, etc, etc...

* * *

The Favela of Demons

In the middle of an industrial estate near the edge of Rio a group of people were sat outside a particularly run down warehouse on some old boxes. They all looked up as a car pulled up beside them and Jackal and Lioness got out.

"Guys, you're okay!" Jackal called in an uncharacteristically happy tone.

"Where's Alicia?" Katie asked immediately as she leapt up and ran across to meet them, she dreaded the answer which she already knew.

"I'm sorry Katie, she stayed behind…" Jackal trailed off, knowing how much the news would upset her.

"No!" Katie cried even though she had already guessed, turning away and burying her head in her hands.

"What about Nicky and Lisa?" Su Ji called from her perch near the back of the pile.

"They stayed as well" Jackal sighed, she hated being the bringer of bad news.

"Vix still in casualty?" Su Ji asked in a business-like voice, tapping away at the keys on her laptop which had been hidden in one of the other boxes, standard protocol for her just in case of an emergency like this one.

"As far as we know, what happened to you guys?" Jackal replied, happy to change the tone of the conversation.

"Kert and Hyena that's what" Andrew answered, jumping down from his box.

"Hyena? She's alive?" Gasped Jackal, leaning back against the car to support herself in her surprise.

"As alive as we are" He stated rather nonchalantly.

"I don't suppose any more dead gang members showed up at the Panda?" Su Ji inquired politely, not once looking up from the laptop.

"No, just Anna and Eddy" Answered Jackal and then changing tone asked "So who does that leave?"

"Only Wolf and Dove" Su Ji sighed, still not looking up.

"That Bitch!" Lioness suddenly and venomously interjected.

"Err, which one?" Questioned a confused Jackal, Lioness had good reason to call either of them a bitch.

"Dove you idiot, she's got to be working with them" Lioness snapped back at her.

"Well we've got no proof, but they could have sent her after Wolf or Vixen" Su Ji mused, taking her eyes off the screen for a split second.

"Err; excuse me but what is going on here?" Shark asked, both he and Hawk looked completely lost about what was going on.

"We really don't have time to explain…" Jackal started before she was interrupted by Su Ji.

"Anyone remember Wolf's mobile number?" She quizzed, looking back up from her screen for a longer period of time to fix the others in her gaze.

"What? You don't have it?" Jackal smiled in disbelief of Su Ji not having a piece of information.

"746892378965403" Andrew automatically told her "Why do you want it?"

"Simple, I use it to track the mobile and consequently her" Su Ji answered, her attention back to the screen once more.

"But we don't know that she has her mobile with her" Jackal cried, happy that she had found something that Su Ji hadn't thought of.

"She always does" And then as if to back her up Su Ji's mobile rang, she frowned and switching to hands free picked up. "Hello?"

"Hello there Su Ji" The long silent Romanian voice of Vulture hissed over the line.

"What the Hell? Where did you get this number? Why aren't you dead?" She struggled, temporarily at a loss from her shock.

"Questions, questions, sadly I am not in the mood to give out answers right now and you sound rather unhappy to hear me alive" His voice came across the phone.

"I know you've got them!" She cried, not caring that the others' ears all perked up at the sound of her shouting into the phone.

"Got who?" He asked feigning innocence.

"What have you done with them?" Su Ji half shouted down then phone making everyone else jump in surprise and listen in even closer.

"Nothing you wouldn't do to us, be assured"

"Tell me Victor or I swear we will..." She started, but before Su Ji could threaten Vulture he hung the phone up without uttering another syllable.

"No! Damn fucking bastard!" She yelled, even though Vulture couldn't hear her insult and the others all looked at her rather strangely.

"I take it that wasn't Wolf then?" Jackal ventured

Su Ji didn't answer and merely continued muttering a long reel of swear words as she typed furiously on her laptop.

"Su Ji?" Prompted Jackal, a bit annoyed that she was ignoring her.

"What!" Su Ji snapped back at her, eyes glued firmly back on the screen in front of her again.

"Christ girl, no need to blow my head off!" Jackal cried, holding her hands up in mock surrender and backing away a couple of steps.

"Sorry. What did you ask?" The reply was rather emotionless and Su Ji was clearly still too occupied with her laptop to actually care about the conversation.

"Who was on the phone?"

This only succeeded in more swear words being muttered under her breath and drew forth no audible or conclusive response.

"Su Ji!" Jackal bellowed, her fuse at an end.

"Fine, Vulture!"

"Great, the one person I was happiest about dying is alive again!" Jackal moaned sarcastically and happily leaving the subject alone on her part.

"So how did he manage to get hold of your mobile number?" Andrew asked, entering the conversation properly for the first time since they had started.

"The only way anyone could, the phone of a gang member" Su Ji replied, yet not as fully as both Andrew and Jackal wanted her to.

"Whose?" Andrew prompted rather forcefully and bluntly.

"Wolf's"

"What! You're saying that Wolf's been caught?" Exclaimed Jackal

Su Ji nodded "That's how it seems"

"Oh fuck, this isn't good" Jackal declared rather disappointedly.

"Now what do we do?" Katie moaned, not removing her head from her hands so the words were rather muffled.

"The only thing we can, find them" Su Ji answered grimly.

While the four were busy discussing the phone call, Shark was busy trying to make his own.

"Do you think there isn't any reception here?" Hawk asked rather concernedly but trying to sound as if he wasn't particularly worried.

"No, I definitely hear his phone ringing" Replied Shark, not at all attempting to hide his concern and frustration.

"Then why isn't he picking up?" Hawk snapped back, letting the concern show through.

"I might be able to answer that for you" Su Ji suddenly interrupted their conversation.

"How would you be able to do that?" Hawk snapped at her to vent more of his frustration on someone he didn't mind upsetting.

"Your friends are called Axel Manning and Crey Kingston right?"

"How did you know that?" Shark asked a bit less rudely than Hawk.

"The news" She replied simply before repeating the words of the reporter "From CCTV footage it has been deduced that a red headed woman with a gun broke into room 261 where two American tourists were staying. Crey Kingston and Axel Manning have not been seen since and are assumed missing..."

"Dove" Muttered Lioness venomously

"And that's not all either, they think that Wolf had something to do with it, she was seen there as well but is also missing" Su Ji continued, passing over Lioness' comment as she condensed down the news report.

Jackal frowned "Dove couldn't ever capture Wolf all by herself, she's not nearly fast or clever enough"

"That's where I believe Vulture comes into it"

"Him? Too slow and clumsy" Jackal replied dismissively.

"Not with a gun he isn't" Andrew corrected, he and the Romanian had never got on.

"What about the others?" Katie butted in, fortunately loud enough for them to all hear her through her hands.

"The Bronze Panda has been blown up" Su Ji sighed, deciding that this subject was best dealt with quickly.

"What!" She half shouted half screamed as her head shot up from it's resting place in her hands.

"Nicky and Lisa's bodies have been found along with some customers, Kiwi was apparently taken in a black van before the explosion" Su Ji informed them, keeping her voice as steady as possible.

Even though two of her friends were now known to be dead Katie couldn't help a sigh of relief.

"Don't be so happy, we still need to find them" Jackal reminded her, a little coldly as the loss of Nicky and Lisa was deeply upsetting to her, especially as she felt that she should have stayed and helped them.

"Ah-ha!" Su Ji suddenly cried in triumph as her laptop with all of its special technology finally locked on to the signal sent by Wolf's phone. However her triumphant happiness soon turned into despair when she actually looked at where the signal was from "Oh shit!"

"What?" Both Katie and Jackal snapped and struggled to get to see the screen.

"Favela dos demons da escuridão" Su Ji stated, slipping into Portuguese as she grimly pronounced the place that would always strike fear into the hearts of locals.

"Huh?" Hawk and Shark had no idea however as to the meaning of the Portuguese.

"The favela of the demons of darkness" Lioness translated for them, even in her long absence she remember the place.

"What's the problem with that?" Shark asked in a rather clueless tone.

"The most notorious favela in Rio! It has the highest murder rate in the whole city and is ruled over by the Costa-Santos family, the most easily pissed off Drug Lords in the whole of Brazil!" Jackal cried emphasising the cold hard facts of the situation.

"Ah, that's a bit of a problem then?" Hawk ventured cautiously.

"A bit of a problem, it's a massive problem, that is unless anyone here has a Safe-Conduct Pact with the Costa-Santos?" Jackal shouted at him before addressing Su Ji with the question she knew the answer to already.

Su Ji shook her head "None of us ever went near them, Wolf had a pact with them but she did work for them occasionally..."

"So we have to sneak in, without a Pact?" Jackal quired incredulously.

"Unless you guys want to wait for another few days to get one then yes" Su Ji snapped back, her calm temper starting to wear thin.

"But that's certain murder!" She cried, hardly able to comprehend what they were considering doing.

"Leaving Wolf and Kiwi in the hands of Hyena, Vulture and the others for any length of time is certain death for them!" Su Ji shouted back at her

"You mean that our friends are going to die!" Hawk suddenly yelled at them, not so much out of frustration but more to actually be heard.

"Possibly, depends whether they are useful or not..." Jackal mused dropping her voice back to its normal volume.

"What!" All three of the teens couldn't help but cry out at what Jackal had just said.

"Well, all the more reason for us to hurry then" Su Ji calmly ordered "You had all better get going now, I'll get Vixen to meet you there"

"We? You too chicken?" Hawk taunted in a rather stupid move.

"Don't be a stupid twat, I'm staying here to co-ordinate" Su Ji snarled viciously looking ready to strangle Hawk if and she probably would have to if her laptop hadn't been in the way.

Jackal snorted in laughter, but quickly covered it up when the others all looked angrily at her.

"Are you going to go or not?" Su Ji barked at her, fuse completely gone now.

"Alright, hold yer horses!" She cried hurrying over to get into the driver's seat and avoid Su Ji's new found wrath.

Hawk also ducked into the car, closely followed by Shark, Katie and Lioness. Andrew hung back for a moment before getting into the front passenger seat. Jackal revved up the engine and was about to put her foot down on the accelerator when Su Ji suddenly called after them.

"You've got weapons on you?" And upon receiving the confirmation she added "Remember to use the ear pieces, holding phones will only impair you!"

But before she could add anything else Jackal hit the accelerator and the car sped off erratically. Su Ji shook her head as she watched it out of sight, she really should have made Andrew drive instead, Jackal had already totaled three cars in a year...

* * *

A very dialog based chapter, but Chapter 13 has some real action in it so stay tuned. See ya there!


	13. Harshness of the Hyena

I'm back again! And I have now posted my 13th chapter of this fic exactly 1 year after I started posting, which means I average out at about 1 chapter a month, that's scarily slow! I would apologise for the delay again but then again it seems that I am always late posting new chapters. Sorry guys, and I know I have probably said this at least ten times before but from now on I am going to be more organised with my fanfics and I will, hopefully, manage to update at least once a fortnight, if not more! Thanks to you guys for sticking with me, and the story, for so long! And I have had over 3000 hits to this story now, which is way more than I ever expected... Anyway sorry for the long waffle, but as the first 'birthday' of this fic I felt it somewhat necessary...

Thanks to **LiLiAnKa**, **Arwen16**, **Bunnylass**, **Dragon-Ninjagirl**, **Beccaxoxo704**, **FyrBurst361** and **Asuna113** for reviewing chapter 12, much appreciated as always. And as a warning there is swearing and some violence in this chapter (although it is not as action-packed as I originally intended it to be, that kinda got pushed to chapter 14).

**Disclaimer**: As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Kiwi, Hyena, Vulture, etc, etc...

* * *

Harshness of The Hyena

**Wolf's pov**

Wolf was still sat in the same rigid position when the four prisoners heard the sound of slow yet deliberate footsteps approaching the cell. Kiwi and the boys all looked towards the heavy door in anticipation while Wolf calmly kept her eyes closed, she knew very well what they were coming to do.

The door was unlocked quickly and swung open, Vulture was back but this time it was Hyena with him. She didn't look in a good state, her head was bandaged heavily and it seemed that she was having trouble staying upright. If it hadn't been for her common sense and the fact that Vulture had his gun Wolf might have tried to break for it. The teens looked as if they were deliberating the same idea but their common sense was not so cautious as that of Wolf...

"Question time Wolf" Hyena stated calmly, her voice quivering slightly due to the pain of talking that made her head hurt even more.

"I was wondering when you were going to get to this" Wolf answered but did not move.

"No games, now up" Vulture ordered, his gun pointing not at her but at Kiwi.

She sighed, they knew her too well. "Fine, fine, I'm coming"

Hyena stepped out of the doorway to let her past, Vulture's gun did not leave Kiwi until he had another trained on Wolf and had closed the cell door behind him.

"After you then, if you can manage it..." Wolf smiled, now Kiwi was temporarily out of danger she could be as disrespectful as she wanted.

"Just move" Hyena muttered, keeping her voice low, as she pushed the captive towards the interrogation room.

One push was all she managed however before Vulture had to take over and hustle the apparently unconcerned woman into the room.

**Kiwi's pov**

Back in the cell however Kiwi was visibly extremely concerned about her friend. As soon as the gun had been moved off her and the door closed she had sprung up. The door was too thick to hear properly through but she could just about make out and distinguish the three voices when she pressed her ear up against the cold wood. Footsteps told her that they were moving away and she soon lost that sound as well...

"No" She moaned, if they were capable of blowing up a restaurant full of innocent people just to cover their tracks there was no telling what Hyena and Vulture were capable of doing to Wolf.

She quickly looked over the door, it was well made, the metal bars reinforcing the wood would make it virtually impossible to break through, unless you happened to have a sledge hammer tucked up your sleeve... The hinges were chunky, they had to be to keep the door in place, and there were only minuscule cracks around the opening edges to let a small amount of air in. The wall around the door felt solid and it would be the only one that backed onto an open space. The dim light made it impossible to see if any of the blocks that made it up were slightly loose. There was no escape.

"Damn it..." She muttered to herself before giving the door a hard bang with her uninjured shoulder, but the impact and the lack of budge made by the door made her take the brunt of it. She grasped her injured shoulder as the jolt had sent a stab of pain back through it and she felt the blood that was refusing to dry.

As she felt defeat wash over her Kiwi slipped back to the floor, not bothering to move away from the door or remove her hand from her left shoulder.

"Are you okay?" The sound of King's concerned voice made Kiwi jump, she had completely forgotten about the two boys in the cell with her.

"It... It's nothing..." She answered slowly, it didn't take a genius to figure out that her shoulder needed treatment, fresh blood was staining her clothes with every beat of her flustered heart and it was probably going to get infected if it wasn't cleaned. The knife Anna had used was still dirty from food preparation, she just hoped that it hadn't touched any chicken before being plunged into her...

"Doesn't look like nothing"

"Well in our current situation it... Hardly seems important" She replied slowly, her brain was a little fuzzy, probably from feeling the blood.

"How did it happen?" He asked, not just because he was curious but it seemed best to keep up a conversation to avoid the tense silence returning.

"Anna... One of the traitors who worked at the restaurant with us... She was trying... She picked up a food prep knife and... Well the rest is kinda obvious..."

"So you work at a restaurant too?"

"Yeah, I'm only part-time at the club... I'm really just a pastry chef..." She answered, continuously loosing the ends of sentences.

"Cool"

"Why is this happening?" Axel suddenly asked, rather forcefully, he didn't like just listening to their useless chitchat when Lioness and the others were in danger.

"That's a long story... I'm not even fully sure..." Kiwi struggled, to tell the truth few of the gang members fully understood the situation and with a fuzzy brain Kiwi remembered less than usual.

"Well, what do you know?" He tried again, not wasting breath on being polite.

"Axel!" King exclaimed, he was shocked that his friend was being so tactless and rude.

"Don't worry about it... Used to it..." She told him, her head felt weird and she knew that it would be better to avoid loud voices.

"That doesn't make it acceptable"

"Well given our current circumstances, I think we... Can let it pass..."

"I suppose..." King reluctantly left off protesting, he didn't want to annoy Axel and the Australian seemed to be better off without an argument being started.

Kiwi waited for a moment to try and collect her fuzzy scattered thoughts before starting from the very beginning "It all started..."

**Wolf's pov **

Even though in her head she was screaming and panicking Wolf managed to keep her face and voice neutral and steady as Vulture forcibly seated her before strapping her to the uncomfortable metal chair.

When he saw her raise an eyebrow he explained "So we can take our guns off you for two seconds without any heroics"

"Ah, you're that afraid of me then..." She retorted with a slight smile.

"I don't see what you're smiling about, we can cause you a lot of pain at any moment" Hyena commented, she was sat on the opposite side of a square table to Wolf as she couldn't stand unsupported for long.

"But that's the beauty of it, you _can_ cause me pain but you _can't _make me tell you anything"

"A very optimistic outlook Wolf, you will reconsider it by the end no doubt" Vulture informed her, he was now leaning against the wall opposite the door.

"Oh I doubt that" She replied confidently, at least on the outside.

Vulture gave one of his rare so-called smiles "I can guarantee it"

Wolf did not reply, she merely shook her head and smiled.

"Ah, I see you want us to start then..."

"Would anyone in their right senses want you to start?" She snapped back, showing her agitation momentarily.

"Well Wolf, you aren't in your right senses so we can't get that answer any time soon" Hyena corrected, they all knew about her current state of mind.

"Rude little bugger..." She muttered under her breath just quiet enough that neither of her interrogators could make out the words.

"I don't know what you just said Wolf, but I can guess that it was something rude" The other woman commented casually as she gave Wolf a stern glare.

"Really, what genius"

"You always were annoyingly sarcastic"

"Always will be to"

Vulture watched the women's war of words before pulling out a mobile phone, not his but Wolf's.

"And what do you intend to achieve with that?" The phone's correct owned inquired.

"Be patient" He ordered as he scanned through the contacts list, his eyebrows lifting as he read some of the names "A lot of nasty people you know"

"And what's it to you?"

Vulture ignored that comment and continued scrolling "Ah here we are..." He muttered, more to himself than to the others, and pressing the 'call' button put it up to his ear.

There were a few moments where nothing happened, the three of them just listened to the ringing of the other phone, then Su Ji picked up.

"Hello?" Her somewhat frustrated voice was clear for everyone in the room to hear, although both women knew better than to try and get a word in while Vulture was holding the phone.

"Hello there Su Ji" Vulture hissed, he really did resemble a snake more than his namesake at times.

"What the Hell? Where did you get this number? Why aren't you dead?" She struggled at the other end of the line, Wolf had to resist laughing at the last comment.

"Questions, questions, sadly I am not in the mood to give out answers right now and you sound rather unhappy to hear me alive" He replied, faking an insulted air on the last comment.

"I know you've got them!" She cried, her voice crackling slightly as she raised her voice at the other end of the line.

"Got who?" He asked, feigning innocence.

"What have you done with them?" Su Ji half shouted down the line, making Vulture chuckle evilly.

"Nothing you wouldn't do to us, be assured"

"Tell me Victor or I swear we will..." She started again but before the threat could be finished he hung the phone up.

"And what exactly was that to achieve?" Hyena snapped at him, turning her glare away from Wolf for the first time since she had sat down.

"You've really done more harm than good there Vulgar!" Wolf added, using one of her old nicknames for the grouchy Romanian.

As both interrogators rounded on her Wolf hastily finished her explanation "Su Ji can track that phone in no time, and then she'll send all we've got here after you"

"That can be taken care of" He told her dismissively before dropping the mobile and crushing it.

"That will do nothing to help, she can just use the signal left by the last call"

"You damn idiot!" Hyena screamed at her subordinate accomplice, before groaning at the pain it caused her head and rubbing her temples to try and ease it.

"Yeah, you damn idiot"

"That is enough out of you!" He cried rounding on the still rebellious woman, she didn't flinch.

"So you don't need to interrogate me then? Well I'll be going if you don't need me..."

"Shut up you annoying shit-sack!" He snapped and accompanied it with a hard slap across the face that left a large red mark on the side of Wolf's face.

"Vulture, maybe we should let the volts do the punishing for us" Hyena suggested quietly, her head down as she continued to rub her temples in vain.

"Ah, capital idea" He suddenly brightened up and pulled out a control with a dial and a nice big red button on it from out of one of his pockets.

When Wolf saw the control a brief flash of fear crossed her features although she was by no means going to let that intimidate her into talking.

"You know what this here is, don't you Wolf"

"I am familiar with it, remote controls are quite common these days if you hadn't noticed..."

"I think that cheek warrants punishment, don't you Hyena?"

The other woman merely nodded, she was looking forward to this although not as much as Vulture it seemed, and her head was throbbing too much to do much else.

He turned to Wolf with his most malicious and evil smirk on his face "Pick a number"

"0"

"What was that? 100 did I hear?" But without a pause for an answer he turned the dial up to 100 volts, the effect was immediate...

**Kiwi's pov**

"...And then things started to get really bad for us..." Kiwi trailed off again, she was having a little trouble stringing her sentences together.

Axel had at the start been impatient with how long it was taking to get the story out of the Australian but as they were finally getting somewhere he had given up trying to speed her up. King was listening intently, the story was quite shocking and to think that Lioness had never even told them anything about her past in Rio... He was also growing concerned for the wound the woman had sustained to the shoulder, it was clearly affecting her and from the looks of things it was not healing and was starting to show signs of infection. There was little he could do to help however and she seemed not to want to deal with it for the time being.

"...We had a real hard time after that, Wolf..." She stopped abruptly, not because of her spinning head however. The dim bulb lighting the cell flickered suddenly, even though there was little electricity being supplied to it the bulb had not gone out once in the hours of their imprisonment. It cycled through brightness, dimness, darkness, then as if the power supply was fluctuating.

Kiwi's eyes narrowed, something was wrong, very wrong. And that was before she heard the scream...

* * *

There, chapter 13 for you all and expect chapter 14 soon(ish)... See you all there!


	14. Aggravation

Hi again guys! I have decided from now on to not mention the amount of time between updates as I should now be on a regular schedule of Friday updates (Don't point out that today is Saturday, I know). I think I ought to say that from now on chapters will be alternating between the two groups (the prisoners and the others), so this chapter is with those who haven't been killed or captured by Hyena and co.

Thanks to **Beccaxoxo704**, **Dragon-Ninjagirl** and **Arwen16** for reviewing the last chapter, much appreciated as always!

**Disclaimer**: As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Jackal, Vixen, etc, etc...

Aggravation

**Vixen's pov**

The cab pulled slowly up outside a dilapidated ramshackle attempt at a building, not that every other building in sight wasn't virtually identical. A black haired woman slipped out and handed a few notes through the window to the driver before waving him on, she didn't want anyone hanging around unnecessarily. Vixen watched him go and as soon as she was sure that he had left pulled out her earpiece and waited. Nothing changed as she stood there, no movements, no other signs of life or time except the slow descent of the red sun below the horizon. She started to get agitated as she continued to wait, her nose was itching unbearably underneath the plaster and the sooner she had other people to distract her the better.

Her impatience was soon allayed however when a sports car pulled up somewhat erratically, just avoiding her. Jackal triumphantly leapt out of the driver's seat and seemed throughly pleased with herself for not crashing. The other inhabitants of the car did not look anywhere near so pleased. As soon as he had squeezed his way out Shark bolted for a nearby drain and proceeded to dump the large breakfast he had eaten out of his churned up system.

"I take it your driving hasn't improved then Jacks?" Vixen stated more than asked, virtually everyone knew about the quality of Jackal's driving.

"What do you mean? I got the car here in one piece didn't I?" She replied, oblivious to just how bad she was.

Her passengers clearly did not agree with her priorities and Vixen smiled, tempted to giggle.

Andrew was not in the mood for either of them and snapped rather viciously "Can you guys please just get on with this"

"But where's the fun in that?" Jackal asked, jokingly.

He growled and Vixen decided to change the subject "So, what's the job then?"

"Oh, nothing much Vix. Just a couple of dead gang members running around with a handful of traitors intent on incinerating the lot of us who just happen to have Kiwi and Wolf as prisoners"

"Ah, right then..." Vixen sighed, talk about dangerous.

"You forgot our friends, they're at risk too!" Hawk piped up as Shark was still throwing up.

"Hmm" Vixen turned to properly look at the two boys "That wouldn't happen to include the bastard who punched me?"

"He's not a bastard" Lioness muttered, just quiet enough for the others not to hear.

"Yeah, you deserved it" Hawk told her somewhat arrogantly.

"Excuse me?" She hissed in reply, pent up rage threatening to spill over.

"Vix, not now..." Jackal put a hand on her shoulder, to try and calm her friend.

"I said excuse me?"

"You deserved to get punched" Hawk answered again, he was starting to get annoyed as well.

"Why would that be?"

"You were being a bitch!"

"I what?"

"Vix..." Jackal tried again, she knew how Vixen could be in situations like this especially when she was already very pissed off.

"Go on, say what you were thinking"

"Shut up all of you!" Andrew suddenly shouted over them.

"Whatever, I just hope that bastard gets what's coming to him" Vixen retorted as she turned her back on the pair as if to close the discussion.

"He's not a bastard" Lioness muttered a little bit louder this time.

"So would someone care to enlighten me on the plan?" Asked Vixen, changing the direction of the subject.

"Sure thing, we storm in there gun the traitors and zombies down and rescue the others" Jackal waved it away, she wasn't a major fore-planner at the best of times.

"Excluding the bastard?"

"He is not a bastard!" Lioness repeated, shouting this time, and taking herself and almost everyone else by surprise.

"I think somebody likes him..." Jackal taunted playfully.

"Really? Well that changes everything" Vixen said sarcastically, although probably not clearly enough for some.

"Seriously?"

"No you twat, I was being sarcastic" She retorted angrily.

"Can we just get going already?" Andrew snapped, he was getting awfully tired of waiting.

"Sure, the sooner we get in the sooner we get out" Vixen replied as she opened the car boot and pulled out a gun.

"And the sooner the captives are safe" Jackal finished as she picked out a pair of pistols, slipping back into her serious mercenary mode, even though it had been some time since she had last needed to.

Andrew grabbed another gun out of the car to add to the one he had on him at all times and Katie reluctantly came over and picked up a small one, she wasn't too familiar with firearms. None of the other three even made a move towards the stash.

"Going in unarmed then?" Vixen looked surprised.

"We've faced worse" Hawk replied coldly.

"Oh ho, I doubt that" Jackal laughed before catching the serious looks on their faces and sighing "Well if you insist" and slammed the car boot shut before locking it up.

"You guys ready yet?" Su Ji asked over the ear pieces, she had nearly fallen asleep back at the warehouse.

"Yep, so where we heading?"

Silence greeted the question and they wondered if they'd lost the connection. "Su Ji? Still there?"

"Yeah, I just..."

"You just what?"

"Give me some time, these coordinates may take a while to register and process"

Jackal sighed "Fine, we'll get started then. Call us when you've got it"

Without waiting for an answer she started off across the road but stopped at the edge of the favela. A thick wall ran around it's extent with a few openings which were watched non-stop by agents of the Costa-Santos, fortunately the one they were using had been temporarily 'overlooked'. Jackal glanced through and checked for any people, but on finding none she took a deep breath and stepped onto the soil that made up the 'streets' of the favela. "Well I haven't been gunned down, care to join me?" She called back to the others.

"Lord have mercy on our souls" Vixen muttered before following and again taking time over that first step into the slum.

The other two followed, Andrew just stalked through while Katie spent at least a minute hovering on the edge. Lioness sighed deeply before joining them and the boys came pretty quickly on her heels.

"Right, we've officially trespassed now, so everyone on your best behaviour." Jackal broke the silence, taking over until Su Ji came back, before adding to Hawk and Shark "And be quiet if you value your lives"

No one else spoke and the group remained in total silence for a few minutes as they started cautiously weaving their way through the dusty alleys. They kept moving although Jackal, who was leading, would occasionally check for other people. It was Hawk who broke the silence.

"So what is so dreadful about this place anyway?"

He was immediately shushed by about four different people and given death glares by Vixen and Jackal.

"Just asking" He defended himself, although in more of a whisper this time.

Lioness decided to answer and in the lowest whisper possible explained "Favelas are slums, where people who can't afford anything else live. But these places are rife with crime and the people are generally living under the control of a drug lord. This is probably the most notorious one in Rio and is controlled by the Costa-Santos family, they have the biggest criminal network in the country. If a Costa-Santos doesn't like you, you die... And they don't like people in their favelas without due permission, which we currently lack"

"Oh..."

"Yeah, oh"

The silence continued unbroken for a while until Hawk got curious again. "So what happens if we get caught?"

Lioness was about to reply but a sudden burst of sound a few streets ahead cut her out and the five who knew what was going on froze in horror and fear

"The firecrackers..." Vixen trailed off, all Rio citizens knew what the firecrackers meant.

"What's going on?" Shark piped up, his stomach had stopped churning so he felt comfortable opening his mouth again.

"This isn't good..." Started Jackal with a clear note of fear in her voice.

"What?" Hawk asked now, the nervousness of the others was infective.

"There's a raid! The police are raiding the favela!" Vixen answered, raising her voice to a shout to be heard but giving away the quiver now in the voice.

Jackal finally tore her eyes off the streets ahead and ordered "We need to get out, now!"

"But..." Shark began, not quite grasping the danger of the situation.

"No buts, unless you want to be gunned down!" Jackal rounded on him, not in the mood for ignorance.

The group turned to retreat back the way they'd come but as they began to run a smoke cloud descended on the area.

"Damn them!" Jackal shouted over the noise "Everyone get under cover, now!"

The others struggled to hear her voice over the firecrackers and bursts of gunfire that seemed to be coming from every direction. They were in utter confusion, the smoke was making breathing hard and no one could see anything. Some of them heeded Jackal's orders, those who couldn't hear her however bolted.

"Thank God they didn't use tear gas..." Jackal sighed to herself as she crouched down just inside a doorway.

"Tell me about it..." Andrew's voice replied out of the shadowy mist.

"Do you know where any of the others are?"

"No, I heard at least a couple running for it though"

"That would be those damn tourists, the idiots, I told them to get under cover not run"

"Don't think they heard you"

"Fucking police!"

"Just hope no one is stupid enough to run into the police fire..." He trailed off, neither of them dared to think of anyone being shredded to pieces by the unmerciful police bullet barrage.

They stayed in silence until the noise had died down slightly, the fight seemed to be moving deeper into the slum, although the smoke was still as thick as ever. So as she could know hear herself think properly Jackal tried her ear piece to reach Su Ji, there was nothing but static however...

Another few moments silence followed where Jackal was torn between remaining silent or calling out to the others, the later option won and she shouted out into the smoke "Guys, is anyone there? Are you alright?"

Nothing answered her except silence, until footsteps became audible and they were coming straight for them.

"Vix? Katie? That you?"

"Not quite" A gruff voice answered as an unfamiliar armed figure stepped into the shack...

* * *

Man I am mean, another cliffhanger... Oh well you guys are going to have to wait a while for what happens next (Not too long though). Next time in chapter 15 we rejoin Wolf, Kiwi, Axel and King in the grips of Hyena, Vulture and co... See you there!


	15. Shocking Tactics

Hey again, quite a short chapter for you this week but the next one will be longer and have a bit more action again. Thanks to **Arwen16** and **Dragon-Ninjagirl** for reviewing chapter 14, very much appreciated. Anyway, not much else to say this time really, so I'll just let you guys get on with the chapter.

**Disclaimer**: As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Kiwi, Hyena, Vulture, etc, etc...

Shocking Tactics

**Wolf's pov**

When Wolf came back to her whole body ached although there was no sharp pain anymore. For a moment she wasn't sure where she was, then it all came flowing back. Hyena was looking pleased, she loved seeing others suffer, but Vulture appeared to be disappointed that Wolf had recovered.

"Awake again so soon?" He asked, no trace of mercy in his voice.

"You've been in this sort of situation before then?" Hyena was mostly intrigued that the woman had recovered her senses so rapidly after such a sudden shock.

"None of your flaming business" She snapped back although her voice was weaker and less forceful than before.

"Seeing as we can inflict more of that on you at any moment, you might want to cooperate" Vulture reminded her and stroked the dial almost lovingly as he did so.

"No fun in that" Wolf replied calmly.

"No pain either"

"I'll take my chances"

Hyena sighed "Look, just give us the information we want and you might just survive to die another day"

"You've been watching too many films Hyena" Wolf smiled, at least her sense of humour was still intact.

"Just tell us what you know" She told her, almost civilly.

"I know a lot of things, such as times tables. You might want to be a bit more specific if you want cooperation" Despite being a prisoner she still felt at liberty to answer how she chose.

"Fine, who are you working for?" Hyena snapped back, taking her harder line of interrogation.

"Myself, that's what us mercenaries usually do"

"Cut the crap Wolf, just give us the answer" Vulture was taking the harsh line as well.

"I work for a lot of people, you know that"

"Specifically"

"No one"

"Fine, Vulture" Hyena was tired of waiting and signalled to her comrade to use the shocker again.

He smiled before turning the dial again, sending a current through the metal and consequently Wolf. Another involuntary scream as her muscles seized up causing her whole body to temporarily lose control. Both captors enjoyed the sight but after only a few seconds it was over, they didn't want her dead, not yet anyway.

"Good show Wolf, now answer the damn question properly!" Hyena shouted although it made her head throb again.

She looked up and gave a weak smile, her whole body was drenched in sweat and every muscle was crying to regain control. "I have already told you"

"Well we know that you have been lying, tell us the truth and you won't get another shock"

"I work for no one but myself, my services are hired, next question"

"We know you work for a government agency, now which one?" Vulture raised his voice slightly, he did not shout much.

"Don't know what you're talking about"

"Then why have you been seen associating with government operatives?" Hyena probed.

"You've been watching me?"

Vulture gave her a small shock for that "We are the ones asking questions here, not you"

"Well, ask a sensible question and I might just answer"

"Very well, what is you mission?" He tried his voice coming back down to a threatening hiss.

Wolf smiled to herself at that before answering sarcastically "To bring peace and love to all, what do you think?"

"We don't know, that's what this interrogation is for" Hyena snapped agitatedly as her head hurt again.

"Not very successful then"

"You are far too cheeky for your own good Wolf, might want to break that habit" Hyena growled at her, before leaning in so that their faces were inches away from each other "We will get answers out of you sooner or later"

**Kiwi's pov**

Even though she felt weaker by the minute Kiwi had to know what was going on, the bulb was back to a constant state and the scream had soon halted. She was not a technical person but she could guess what they were doing to her friend, and the thought of it made her feel even sicker. Banging a fist on the door however yielded no results and only sapped more of her energy, she slumped back down, defeated.

"Are you okay?" King finally ventured, she did not look at all well now.

"I don't really know..." She started before a sudden stab of pain came from her bleeding shoulder. Cautiously she glanced at it for the first time and was overcome by a strong urge to vomit. It was a mess, blood was still coming out although not so constantly any more. The old blood was dried and matted up with the torn fabric of her top, the yellowy colour she could see screamed infection. The urge to vomit returned and this time it couldn't be suppressed, the contents of her stomach were promptly dumped over the floor.

Everyone's noses wrinkled at the putrid smell and both boys felt slightly nauseous at the sight of the vomit.

Kiwi groaned in both pain and panic as she leant back against the wall and closed her eyes, she could guess what the infection was and if it was not treated soon there was a distinct lack of hope...

**Dove's pov**

The four murderers watched the screen with varying degrees of interest. Rather than the news feed they were watching the scenes unfolding in the cell and interrogation room, it was mainly the interrogation that interested them. At least until Kiwi started vomiting.

Dove laughed at the sight and for once addressed her rival with something other than a superior tone "Looks like you got her good there Anna"

Kert's malicious smile was more normal, he did not congratulate the blonde woman however merely inquired as to more details "What was on that knife then?"

"Some sort of meat, wasn't cooked though so the bacteria would still be there" She answered, waving the question aside as she was still watching the screen intently.

"Biological warfare, nice touch" Dove's tone of approval was lasting for one of the longest times ever.

"Whatever, wonder how long she'll last" Kert liked the possibility of death.

"Impossible to tell" Anna wanted the conversation to stop so she could listen to what the cameras were picking up.

An idea suddenly seemed to dawn on Kert and his face lit up sinisterly "Bets anyone?"

"That's sick!" Anna started, faking a frown before switching to a smile and continuing "But _so_ worth it"

"Okay, so how much?" He prompted.

"20 on 24 hours" Anna answered bluntly.

"I'll put 60 on the end of tomorrow" Eddy decided after a few moments of mental deliberation and calculation.

"Right, Dove?" Kert smiled and held his hand out to take the notes off the pair, before turning to the red head.

"Don't want to waste my money, I'm just waiting to get the go ahead on the other two" She told him and turned her attention back to the screen.

"Fine, be a spoil sport. Anyone want to put anything on Wolf?" He added after taking a quick glance at the state of the interrogation in between counting up the two bets.

"Tempting, but I've got nothing else" Eddy sighed, slightly disappointed.

"I'll give you 45 on her snuffing it before they get the info" Anna said at last turning from the screen, and at the expectant look on his face added "As it's virtually definite then I'll wait before I hand over my money"

Kert was about to retort and demand that all bets be cash in hand when an annoyingly familiar sound became audible. "Ah damn it, the firecrackers..."

"Better go check it out..." Dove told them as she headed for the door, she had no intention whatsoever in waiting for the police to come and find them. And if that meant running out by herself then so be it but before disappearing she turned and called over her shoulder "A little accompaniment would be nice, if you aren't too chicken that is!"

"Fine" Kert sighed and after pocketing his money slowly made his way out the door after the red head with his gun at the ready.

* * *

Short but hopefully sweet. See you all in chapter 16 when we return to the others and the rest of the action. Bye for now!


	16. Coming Through the Smoke

Hi again! And we come to chapter 16, just over halfway by my calculation… Back to the rest of the group in the favela now, who have been split up by the raid… This chapter switches between Vixen and Jackal's povs a few times so it may seem a bit bitty but that's how it worked best. Anyway thanks to **Dragon-Ninjagirl** and **Arwen16** for reviewing chapter 15, poor Kiwi though…. (Both of you phrased it the exact same way, I found it funny anyway) But now, on with the chapter.

**Disclaimer**: As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Jackal, Vixen, etc, etc...

Coming Through the Smoke

**Vixen's pov**

"Katie! Jacks! Andrew! Is anyone else there?" Vixen shouted through the thick layers of smoke surrounding her. She coughed violently after the last syllable; the smoke was making breathing hard, especially as she kept on shouting.

She had been wandering for a while now and was completely lost, after hearing the gunfire she'd bolted and in doing so had neglected to keep track of which turns she took. The smoke had reduced visibility so much that any further than even a few steps ahead was impossible to see.

Vixen sighed and tried again "Jacks! Katie! Lioness! Andrew! Anyone!" She was getting worried; anything could happen to any of them in this favela… "Come on guys, where are you…"

**Jackal's pov**

"Get your hands off me!" Jackal struggled viciously against the burly figure's grip but to no avail.

"Where are you taking us?" Andrew made a more sensible use of his mouth, not that it got much of a result.

"You've trespassed; the boss will want to see you" The person dragging Andrew replied, through the mask over their head it was impossible to tell if the voice was male or female.

"Who are you guys?"

"You'll find out soon enough" It seemed that the one dragging Andrew was the more talkative, the other merely walked in silence.

"How much longer?" He asked again.

"You ask too many questions" Andrew's captor replied before kicking out and hitting him in the stomach. He shut up after that.

The pair continued to drag their bound captives through the streets of the favela; despite the smoke they seemed to know exactly which way they were going. The gunfire defiantly seemed to get quieter as they went, whether from the distance or the fight dying down it was impossible to tell. Just how long it was before they came to a halt outside a large concrete building neither captive knew.

The person dragging Jackal knocked on the metal door in some sort of code, obviously to prove that he was not with the police. It swung open silently and another masked figure dressed in a navy blue bodysuit ushered them in.

"More! My, my, tonight is busy! Just thrown 'em in over there" They jerked their finger over their shoulder to indicate a dark doorway to another room.

The pair seemed quite pleased to get rid of their loads and both were flung rather unceremoniously into what turned out to be a small cupboard sized place.

"Hey you two" Lioness was in there too, not quite as well tied up but from the state of her she had put up quite a fight when captured.

"You're the only one here?" Jackal asked as she twisted to get into a position where she could properly see the other prisoner.

"Disappointed?"

"Slightly" Jackal had to admit it; she wanted to at least had Vixen there too.

"Shush, let's at least take advantage of this situation and listen" Andrew commanded, he had managed to manoeuvre so that he was right next to the door.

The door had been shut after the pair were tossed in but it was wooden with gaps so the three could easily hear and partially see what was going on in the main room.

The blue suited person spoke first as she sat back down in a wooden chair next to the entrance "You wouldn't think one night could be so damn busy"

"Tell me about it, I go out for a hit and come back to this madhouse…" The one that had been dragging Andrew replied, leaning against the wall casually.

"Someone must've pissed the gunslingers off big time" The third one stated, the gruff voice defiantly sounded male.

"Probably one of the others" The guard shrugged, they seemed used to it.

"Well it certainly wasn't me, not a hit for weeks" The man replied when the others looked at him.

"No recreational shots?"

"Not one" He told her, obviously not a usual state of things.

"Me neither" The guard shook their head.

"Well the body wouldn't have been found yet, so not me…" The other trailed off; the fact that they had killed someone only a few hours ago did not seem to cause any bother.

"So which of us would either leave evidence or do something stupid to piss off the gunslingers…"

All three came to the same conclusion at once "Cutlass!"

"I'll wring out that idiot's neck for this!" The man growled and pounded his fists together in anger.

"CS will probably want us to anyway, Cutlass' always bringing them here" The guard told him, not really trying to alleviate his anger. But just then another complicated knock came on the door and they moved over to open it "Looks like you made it too"

Another burly figure stepped into the room, presumably another man "It's insane out there; fortunately the grunts aren't doing half bad against the slingers"

"Yeah, Axe nearly got his arm blown off" His companion commented, even through the mask you could tell that this was a female.

"Don't exaggerate Mac'" Scolded the guard as the door was pushed shut again and locked, just in case.

"I am not exaggerating; you know how bad their machine gun fire can be!" The woman immediately defended herself.

"I suppose…"

"Anyway, who's left out there?" The new man asked, to steer the conversation away from his near loss of limb.

"Cutlass, the damn idiot who brought this down on us, and I'm pretty sure Spear was on patrol tonight" The leaner answered, not concerned for their colleagues in the least.

"Not to mention CS is coming" The guard added, sitting back down before either of the new comers took the seat.

"CS? Here?"

"Yep, trespassers need some talking to" The first man told them and jerked his finger over at the cupboard.

"So that's why everyone's still got their masks on?" The new woman, Mac, asked.

"Well duh" The tone of the answer showed that it really was a stupid question.

"But how do we know that there's no spies?" She continued, clearly not as used to this sort of situation as the others.

"Mac'…" Growled her companion, he was probably the one responsible for her seeing as she was following him around.

"What? Can't be too careful"

"I suppose not" Sighed the guard and removed their mask first; it was a woman with short electric blue hair and matching eyes.

"On your head be it if this place gets stormed" Sighed the man who had caught Jackal before doing likewise, his hair was indigo although his eyes were a stormy grey.

The other pair took their masks off at the same time; 'Axe' had red hair and eyes, 'Mac' on the other hand had shoulder length bright yellow hair and eyes.

All eyes turned to the only person with their mask left on "What?" It was clear that they weren't into taking the other's orders.

"Come on Bow, what's the worst that can happen?" Mac tired to coax the masked figure, the others looked rather taken aback that she had dared ask such a thing.

"You really want me to go there?"

A universal frown made Bow sigh "Fine, whatever" And finally yanked the mask off to reveal a pair of violet eyes and letting down a long plait of matching hair. "Happy now?"

"What is your problem with showing your face Bow?" The blue haired guard asked, taking the opportunity to ask the thing that had got all the others puzzled.

She sighed "Just so you know 'Ace, those who see my face take its memory to the grave"

That answer seemed to freak even the other mercenaries out, not to mention the three prisoners in the other room. The uncomfortable silence continued until the blue haired woman known as 'Ace spoke up again.

"Wonder where the other two are?"

"Dead or dying, I hope" Bow muttered, just loud enough for the others to hear.

"What wonderful team spirit Bow"

"We work together, that does not make us a team, and even if we were that wouldn't mean that I would have to like you all" She replied venomously.

"Which you don't" Mac' threw back before any of the others could stop her.

Bow opened her mouth to retort when there was yet another knock on the door.

"That'd better be the other two…" 'Ace sighed as she walked back over to open the door yet again.

**Vixen's pov**

How long Vixen continued to wander through the favela streets was anyone's guess; it could have been hours, it could have been minutes. For her certainly it felt like an eternity. She had tried to contact Su Ji a few times but the smoke seemed to be jamming the signal so she couldn't get any external help to guide her.

Her voice was almost gone by now after all her shouting and she drew together all her energy for one last try "Jacks! Lioness! Someone! Anyone! Answer!"

Nothing, just the same eerie silence of the smoke, at least the gunfire had gone. She sighed, all hope finally gone. Then she heard it.

"Hello?"

For a moment she simply couldn't believe it, maybe it was her mind playing tricks on her but then the cry was repeated and a second voice joined in. Forgetting any reservations or suspicions she began to move towards the voices as fast as she could until at last she found the hut from which they seemed to be coming. Taking a deep breath and preparing to fight just in case it was a trap she stepped inside…

**Jackal's pov**

'Ace opened the door with a rough jerk to reveal another pair of figures waiting to enter, neither had a captive. "All back, at last"

"What's with the long faces? You'd think you guys had just fought off the gunslingers or something" The first to enter the room asked, he clearly had more humour than the rest put together. On removing his mask and throwing it away carelessly his orange hair and eyes could be seen.

"So brilliantly funny, you'd think that you hadn't brought this upon us Cutlass" Bow spat at him, she was certainly in no mood to put up with his humour.

"Huh?" Cutlass seemed shocked

"What did you do this time, hey? Shoot a civilian? Shoot a fed? Drop some smack on a fed's head?" 'Ace asked, in all likelihood he had probably done all three at some point.

"None of the above! I mean that last one's really funny and all but I haven't done anything to incur any wrath"

"Must've done, who else would?" The indigo haired man cracked his knuckles menacingly as he eyed the other mercenary.

"Well Knife, there's over six billion people in the world so maybe one of them did it"

"Unlikely, especially considering your track record" Knife snarled back, rising from his seat and beginning to advance on Cutlass.

"That's not fair!" He cried in desperation as he backed as fast and far away as possible.

"It's as fair as people like us know to be" The other new arrival spoke up for the first time, removing his mask before speaking. It was another man, slimmer than the others with green eyes and a short ponytail of the same colour.

"Marco?" Jackal couldn't help but gasp rather loudly when she saw his face, what the hell was her boyfriend doing here…

**Vixen's pov**

"You!" All three of the people in the hut couldn't help but hide their disappointment at seeing each other.

Vixen groaned "I spend all this time searching and all I get are the ignoramus tourists! That almost wasn't worth wearing my voice out for…"

"You're not exactly our first choice either you know!" Hawk replied rather moodily.

She glared at him for that and considered just stalking straight back out into the smoke and leaving them to help themselves. To clear the air she asked almost casually "I suppose you don't know what's happened to any of the others?"

Neither boy answered, that immediately sent alarm bells off in Vixen's head "Who? What did you see?" And when the silence continued she shouted almost desperately "Tell me!"

She was about to grab either of them and forcibly shake an answer out when unfamiliar voices reached their ears.

"Who was that?" A man's voice floated in through the smoke.

"Civilians?" Another voice asked.

"Nobody's a civilian in this place" A third man growled, the voices seemed to be coming gradually closer.

"Sarge, dead or alive?" Queried a fourth man.

"Honestly boys, which do you think's the most fun?" The third replied, it seemed that he was the one in charge.

"Dead it is…"

All three were frozen to the spot, powerless to move as the sound of the police squad came closer and with it the unmistakable shadow of death…

* * *

Man I really am horrible to my characters… Anyway, that's all for now... Next time it's back to Wolf and poor Kiwi, and of course Axel and King… See you there!


	17. Blowing the Joint

So, chapter 17 now... This is starting to fly by with these weekly updates, but then again that is quite a good thing! Back to Wolf, Kiwi, Axel, King, etc, etc there really are quite a few characters in this part, well in total there are a lot but I'll not digress into that... Thanks to **Dragon-Ninjagirl**, **Arwen16** and **Beccaxoxo704 **for reviewing the last chapter, ever grateful! And without further ado, here's the latest chapter.

**Disclaimer**: As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Kiwi, Hyena, Vulture, etc, etc...

Blowing the Joint

**Dove's pov**

"Shit" Dove hissed lowly, trying not to give herself away as she crouched low and watched the police force systematically comb the favela.

She knew that they would probably give up soon, but not soon enough for them to miss the stash and their hideout… It looked like it was time to get back on the offensive and that was just how Dove liked things to be. Yet she knew better than to just jump out and open fire, that was a sure way to be killed, so as much as she wanted to Dove resisted the urge. Instead she stayed low and began quickly creeping back to base, to get some backup.

As soon as she was far enough away Dove broke into a run, partially emulating the bolting of a rabbit for its warren. She burst back into the hideout thoroughly out of breath, her ragged panting and narrowed eyes were more than enough to convey the weight of the situation to the others.

"It can't be that bad" Anna looked her in the eye before continuing "Is it?"

"Definitely… Very… Big… Bad…" She managed to say between pants.

"What's happening out there then?" Eddy looked a little concerned, more for himself than her.

She shook her head "No… Time… Explain…"

Kurt raised his eyebrows "Better get something together quick or we might have no time left whatsoever"

"Raid…" Dove began, slowly due to her continued need to pant.

"Yes, we knew that already" Anna cut over her, giving the redhead a somewhat nasty and degrading look.

The evil look was returned and she continued regardless "Stash… Threatened… Hideout… Possibly"

"Holy Shit!" Both Anna and Eddy gasped at that news, both reacted a little melodramatically too.

"Shit indeed" Kurt nodded; he kept his cool much better than the other two "Someone had better get some orders from Hyena"

All eyes in the room turned on him, it was a general rule of thumb that whoever suggested an idea had to carry it through, he had hoped to avoid that however. But, as always, none of the other three wanted to volunteer so he would just have to bite the bullet and face it. He sighed and reluctantly got up from his seat.

"If this shit blows up in my face you will get it Dove" He called over his shoulder as he walked off towards the cells.

She didn't react to this threat however and simply slumped down in the nearest chair to get her breath back; it was only Vulture that she was really scared of. Neither of the others looked at all sympathetic to the redhead and merely waited for Kurt to return, possibly with a very pissed off Vulture or Hyena in tow.

**Wolf's pov**

Quite how long the so called interrogation had lasted so far Wolf had no idea, the electric shocks kept making her pass out so there really was no concept of time left in her fuzzy brain. She groaned and came fully to again, not bothering to raise her eyes to look around, nothing would have changed and she didn't need to waste the energy.

"You sure can take some punishment" Hyena commented almost casually as she sat reclining in the chair opposite her.

"Impressive yet annoying" Vulture agreed, he seemed to prefer leaning against the wall to sitting down.

"Aim to please" Wolf could barely manage any more than a few words at a time after all the shocks.

Hyena sighed and put a hand to her head, dizziness was still gripping her and Wolf had been rather amused whenever she had tried to get up and ended up nearly falling over. That had dissipated gradually as the number of shocks piled up. "Why won't you just crack?"

"Trained too well… Been through worse" She replied, full sentences couldn't quite form properly anymore.

It was hard for either of the others to imagine much worse than the state Wolf was currently in. She was literally drenched in her own sweat, her muscles kept making involuntary jerks and it seemed that her bladder had unconsciously emptied itself. The red mark from Vulture's slap was still there too; overall she did look in an awfully bad state. Yet none of that seemed to bother her in the least, she just would not tell them anything.

"The Secret Service must really put their trainees through Hell if you've had worse than this" Vulture remarked, hoping to catch her off guard and get the answer that they had spent at least the last hour trying to get out of her.

"How should I know?" She wasn't falling for it.

"Because you work for them!" He bellowed, losing his patience again and starting as if to hit her again but he caught himself this time and merely clenched his fists in anger.

She didn't flinch or reply, even though she didn't show it Wolf did not want to cause herself any more pain if she could help it.

"Admitting by silence are we?" Hyena tried, her voice taking on a much softer and quieter tone although partially due to her head.

"Silence admits nothing"

The pair of interrogators let out an almost simultaneous sigh at the woman's stubbornness, it did have to be commended no matter how frustrating it was for them. However none of them had time to make their next move before an almost cautious knock came on the door.

"Who the fuck!" Hyena exclaimed angrily "I thought we told them not to disturb us!"

"We did…" Vulture answered in one of his icy tones, whoever was at the door was certainly going to get it. He jerked away from the wall and strode over to yank it open roughly. "Yes?"

Kurt stood there in momentary shock at the reception before gathering his wits back together and forming a reply "I… Dove spotted the forces of a police raid on the favela"

"And?" Vulture elongated the word rather annoyingly to show his mood.

"The stash and hideout are under threat"

"Just fantastic!" He exclaimed; waving his arms rather comically, that if it were not for the current situation the other three might have laughed.

"Have you done anything to solve the threat?" Hyena snapped and turned her strong sight onto Kurt instead of Vulture's still flailing arms.

"We wanted to wait for orders before acting" Kurt replied rather stiffly, it was best not to show emotion when the pair were this volatile.

Hyena sighed in a rather annoyed fashion before pulling out her mobile and beginning to scroll through the list of contacts. Wolf could just about see the small screen and noted the name attached to the number which was clicked, 'BB'. The ringing continued for almost a minute before the other end picked up.

"Hello?" The voice was defiantly male but before Wolf could determine, or hear, any more Hyena left the room, rather wobbly, and closed the door behind her so that none of the others could hear the conversation.

"So it was Dove that saw them?" Vulture inquired, arms finally dropping back to his sides as the rant subsided.

"Yep, should've seen her when she came in. It really was funny, her face was priceless" Kurt replied, relaxing a little more and making the ghost of a giggle as he remembered the redhead's face when she had burst in.

"Shh!" Wolf may still have been the prisoner but she wanted to at least try and hear the conversation outside.

Both men gave her a glare but picked up on the good idea, it was Kurt who ended up listening at the door just in case he was discovered. In the relative silence Hyena could be heard vaguely, although from where they were neither Wolf nor Vulture could make out the words. They stayed in this manner for some time, until Hyena hung up and came back in fortunately taking enough time in between for Kurt to leap away from the door.

"Orders?" Vulture asked her, not really sure what to expect.

"Blow it all" was her simple reply.

"What!" Neither man could restrain their surprise.

Hyena angrily waved their exclamation aside "Don't give me that! Those were the orders from BB himself!"

"But… That stash is worth _thousands_!" Kurt could barely comprehend the idea of simply blowing up a building filled with weapon and drug stores.

"Not in the hands of the police it isn't, besides BB wants no evidence left that could point to him" She told him, reacting rather calmly to the situation.

"Earmarked?" Vulture assumed.

She nodded slowly before sitting back down again to steady her balance. When she saw Kurt still standing there she snapped at him "Hadn't you better get going and tell the others?"

"But wouldn't the bang give us away?" He was still too confused and astounded to do much.

"Don't be an idiot Kurt! We're blowing this place too!" She put a hand to her head, all this explaining was making it hurt again.

"What!"

"Not while we're in it you dumbass!" Vulture groaned, this stupidity was getting on his nerves very quickly. Fortunately for himself though Kurt got the idea and quickly went back to inform the other three before anything else could happen. The Romanian sighed "He is a real slow minded one, isn't he?"

"But very useful with a gun, if just a little trigger happy" Hyena agreed.

**Dove's pov**

It was quite a while before Kurt returned with the same expression on his face as before; he was very good at suspense.

"Well? Orders?" Dove was keen to get going on what she hoped would be a police neutralisation mission.

"Blowing it all"

"What the fucking Hell?" All three were just as shocked as he had initially been at the idea.

"No evidence can be left, everything has to go up" He explained, a little regretfully.

"Shit, not taking any chances are they?" Anna was the first to regain her wits.

"No one can." Dove answered for her "If the feds get their hands on earmarked goods then they can slam us all"

"So who's taking what?" Eddy asked, keen to get going and out of there as soon as possible.

"Dove and Anna take the stash; Eddy and I will handle things here"

"Typical, sending a pair of ladies into danger while you take the easy option" Dove feigned an insulted air.

"You two ceased to be ladies long ago" Kurt replied bluntly, he didn't believe in women being treated differently.

"And don't we know it" Anna smiled with an accompanying hair flick as she turned to leave.

Eddy called after her before she could leave "What about the blasts?"

"It's already set up, duh!" Dove rolled her eyes at his incompetence.

"Yeah, all that's needed is to wire it up and press the little red button" Anna swaggered out the door before poking her head back in and adding "Have fun boys!"

**Kiwi's pov**

Even as Kiwi sat there in the cell, fading in and out of consciousness, she still had some hope left, not much though. The time for caring about others had long passed and her mind was no longer primarily concerned about what was happening to her friend, it was now herself that she was worried about.

King and Axel were still huddled in their corner, although the former was still concerned he realised that there was little he could do even if she would let him look at the infected shoulder wound. The later seemed to have retreated into his own mind to escape the somewhat claustrophobic cell; he certainly was not showing any concerns about any of them.

The sound of hurried footsteps caught all three's attention however and for the first time in hours all three turned their focus to the same thing, the door. It was unlocked and pushed open to reveal Eddy and Kurt, no one else.

"Where…" Kiwi attempted to ask a question but her strength failed after the first word and she fell silent.

"Not even 24…" Kurt stated, mentally patting himself on the back having got himself a decent load of winning for one night.

"Worth taking?" Eddy looked to his partner for orders.

"Nah, other two might be though" Kurt nodded in the direction of the pair and Eddy stepped forward to get hold of either one of them.

Axel however now saw his opportunity to act and lunged out at the man shouting "Jo-Lan Ryuuseiken!"

Eddy had no time to react before the fist connected with his face, knocking him into the hard wall. He cried out in pain and was ready to punch back in retaliation as soon as he recovered himself. But before he could do so, Kurt reacted.

"One more wrong move out of you and the big guy gets it" He had pulled a pistol out of some hiding place and had it pointed squarely at King, Kurt knew that it was a better strategy to threaten the life of a friend than the person themselves.

Axel glanced between his friend and the barrel of the pistol and back again, that he couldn't risk King's life like was his virtually instant conclusion. He growled but held his hands up to show defeat.

"Hands on your head" He barked the order and as soon as it had been complied with "Now out that door, don't look back and do exactly as I say or he will be shot"

The frustrated teen did exactly as ordered, by now Eddy had his gun trained on him and he looked keen for any excuse to pull the trigger. Kurt kept his gun trained on King and soon repeated his orders to him, threatening the shooting of the other tourist instead. But before he left Kurt made sure to turn his head address Kiwi.

"Enjoy Hell!" He smiled evilly before kicking the door shut and locking the woman in, he did not intend to come back…

* * *

Oh dear, I may have just finished off poor Kiwi... You'll have to wait till the chapter after next to find out what happens next... We return to the madness that is the rest of the favela next time, see you all there!


	18. Demonic Company

Hi guys, chapter 18 now and we return to the rest of the groups... Both Vixen and Jackal were left on cliffies last time, and they are again... Oh well, thanks to **Arwen16**, **Dragon-Ninjagirl**, **Beccaxoxo704** and **csimiamigirl73 **for your reviews of the last chapter, encouraging as always. And now to the chapter...

**Disclaimer**: As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Jackal, Vixen, etc, etc... (Does anyone honestly bother reading these?)

Demonic Company

**Vixen's pov**

While Vixen was physically frozen her mind was racing to find a way out of the current danger. Her eyes flicked from side to side, before she managed to turn her head away from the doorway through which the dealers of death would be coming any minute. The building was ramshackle and made of wooden boards, maybe if nothing was behind... Shifting her eyes so that they were back on the open doorway she began slowly edging towards the back of the room.

When Shark noticed what she was doing and opened his mouth to speak she quickly put a finger to her lips to make sure he kept quiet. Fortunately he realised what was needed and closed his mouth again.

Finally she took her eyes off the doorway and instead turned her attention to the back wall, it looked frail enough, she just prayed that this would work... She raised her leg, ready to give it the hardest kick possible, but there she faltered. If the wall didn't come down on the first kick then the police would run in and massacre the three of them before they could even try to defend themselves.

Vixen turned and looked back at the smoke, half expecting a shadowy figure with a machine gun to emerge. She was genuinely worried that this wouldn't work, as much as she did not want to admit it she was not quite ready to accept defeat and doom just yet.

Shark glanced back over at her and noticed this hesitation before mouthing to her in encouragement "Go for it"

She smiled slightly and turned back to the wall, raising her leg again and flexing it backwards and forwards in preparation. "Here goes nothing..." She murmured swinging her leg back one last time...

**Jackal's pov**

"Marco?" Jackal was speechless, how could she never have known, or even suspected, that her boyfriend was a member of the feared and respected Spectra mercenaries?

"Shh!" Andrew and Lioness could see no reason for this outburst and certainly did not want any attention coming their way.

In the other room the attention of all seven mercenaries had now turned to the wooden door and the voices of the prisoners coming from behind it.

"One of them _knows_ you?" Mac sounded rather horrified at the prospect.

"It would seem so..." Spear, or Marco, trailed off unable to hide his confusion.

"You idiot! Now they've seen you they can turn you in!" Knife shouted, turning his anger now on Marco instead of Cutlass.

"Not if we kill them first!" Bow marched across the room and yanked the door open roughly, causing Andrew to topple out. "Any last words?" She snarled with her gun at the ready.

"Hold it! The voice was female" 'Ace cut in before the violet haired woman could pull the trigger on the bound man.

"Does it matter?" She asked rather frustratedly, she never liked having prisoners, it was much easier for them all if they were just shot right away.

"Yes" 'Ace insisted none too gently.

"Fine..." She sighed and grabbed hold of Jackal's collar and dragged her out, gun again at the ready "How about this one then?"

"Jackie?" It was Marco's turn to gasp in surprise when he set eyes on his captive girlfriend.

Axe raised his eyebrows but stayed put in his chair, tilting it back slightly "So you _do_ know each other!"

"Honestly, you should not be having relationships with civilians!" Mac scolded despite his being her senior.

"Excuse me?" Even though she was tied up and had a gun pointing at her Jackal couldn't help but be somewhat insulted.

"Shut up you!" Bow snapped, kicking her although not as hard as she would normally.

"Don't touch her!" Marco warned, staring daggers at Bow. This defence however only succeeded in the others making an 'oo' sound and Bow raising her foot for another kick. He growled at their flippant attitudes "I'm serious!"

"Come on Spear, I mean a _civilian_!" Mac kept going with the same point somewhat immaturely, but then again she was the youngest of the group.

"I am not just a civilian!" Jackal cried rather indignantly, not caring about the looks she attracted. "I do have a name!"

"So?"

By now Jackal was so annoyed that she threw caution to the winds and decided to drop them her 'work' name "Golden Jackal, heard of me?"

"Oh great! So now you're getting bloody involved with mercenaries from other groups!" Knife rounded on him again, his anger was still pent up from earlier and threatening to boil over.

"And how exactly is this your business?" Marco growled, crossing his arms and adopting an annoyed pose.

"Like it or not we are part of a unit, loyalty to any group other than Spectra is unacceptable." Axe explained, still leisurely reclining in his chair.

"It's not loyalty to another group, it's just a relationship for Christ's sake!"

"Relationships are dangerous in this line of work..." 'Ace began a little sadly before she was cut over by the immature tone of Mac.

"How do you know there's no plot to destroy us? Maybe another drug lord is trying to undermine CS?" She asked, eyeing Jackal accusingly as if she suspected her of having said drug lord hidden in a pocket.

"What the? You guys aren't making any sense!" He cried, but all of them were slightly annoyed and confused at the ridiculousness of Mac's accusations and the fact that she seemed to think that they made perfect sense.

"Come on, what d' you think CS is going to say?" Axe asked, he was taking the matter quite in his stride and was not showing any particular emotions other than indifference.

But before Marco or any of the others could offer an answer a sudden knock on the door made most of them jump. All eyes turned to either the door itself or 'Ace who sighed and walked over to open it for the person. She gave a slight smile when she saw who was waiting outside "Speak of the Devil..."

**Vixen's pov**

As Vixen's foot connected with the wall the old boards splintered and fell away to leave a decent sized gap, leading out onto another smoky street. She wasted no time in leaping through, despite her foot aching slightly after the impact, and began running without bothering to look back. Shark knew well enough to follow as fast as possible, grabbing the hand of the more unprepared Hawk and pulling him along.

The sound of machine gun fire meant that the police raid squad had realised that their prey was escaping but it was the slightly delayed noise of heavy booted feet running after them that made the trio run even faster.

Even though she had a sizeable head start the panic speed of Shark and Hawk soon had them catch up with Vixen. None of them were taking much notice of where it was they were going however, all that concerned them was staying ahead of guns.

"If you're such a hard bitch then why don't you just turn around and blast them?" Hawk asked, he had got his hand out of Shark's slightly tight and overprotective grasp now and was running next to the woman.

"Are you insane?" She shouted back "For one thing I have lost my guns and am hopelessly outnumbered and the other is that you never shoot police when you can help it!"

"Why not, they're trying to kill us!" He shouted too, although really they should be trying to be quiet and lose the pursuing police it seemed rather more appropriate to shout.

"If I shot at them I'd be guilty! At least if we get away now we've done nothing wrong and they can't come after us!" Vixen snapped, skidding around another corner but keeping up her momentum.

There were a few moments of silence in which all that could be heard was the pounding of feet, blood in their ears and the ragged panting as they all tried to keep up the pace. It was Hawk who broke it again when he asked "Where are we going?"

"No idea! Getting out of range is the main thing!" Vixen replied shortly, not bothering with any of the usual attitude.

Again they rounded a corner into an even narrower alley, with the walls of the buildings beginning to loom over them. By the time they reached the end of this alleyway Vixen had realised a major problem, it was another dead end...

* * *

More cliffies... I am evil. Anyway we go back to the others next chapter: Will they blow up the favela? Will Kiwi live? Who are they working for? Will Dove get another slap? Will everyone get high if the drugs are blown up? Will I stop asking questions only I know the answer to? See you next time! (With some answers hopefully!)


	19. Pop Goes the Eagle

Hi guys, chapter 19 now... We now come back to the bad guys, plus Axel, King and Wolf, and find out the answers to some of those questions... There is action in this chapter along with some plain cold-bloodedness (I won't say more in case I spoil it). Thanks to **csimiamigirl73**, **Dragon-Ninjagirl**, **Arwen16** and **Beccaxoxo704** for reviewing the last chapter, always appreciated and those suggestions were considered ;)

**Disclaimer**: As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Kiwi, Hyena, Vulture, etc, etc...

Pop Goes the Eagle

**Dove's pov**

"Such a waste..." Dove murmured to herself as she fingered the unused sniper rifle.

"Well it'll have to be a waste" Anna cut it, glancing over her shoulder briefly as she perched on a stool but turned back to fiddle with the blast and connected it to the detonator gingerly.

"Still..." The redhead sighed as she lay the gun to rest rather tenderly and turned to wander around the large room absently.

"Could try helping you know." The blonde did not turn her head this time, it wasn't worth the effort.

"Nah, I'll just stick with what I'm doing" Dove leant back against the wall opposite the one which the other woman was working on.

Anna made a noise of annoyance but did not retaliate, yet, as she could not let herself be distracted from the wiring, one false move and they would both be blown up along with the stash.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

"No." She replied bluntly as she finished connecting up the next blast to the detonator but as soon as she had carried on "And if you hadn't noticed, I'm busy doing my job. You know J-O-B?"

"Shut up." The redhead snapped back, she hated it when the others made out that she was less intelligent than them.

"You wouldn't have to tell me that if you were helping!" The blonde shouted at her in exasperation, she was tired of not only having to do the work herself but also of having to tell her 'partner' to help her with it.

"You're better at wiring than me, don't want to be blown up do you?" Was the casual response as the other woman continued to lean nonchalantly against her bit of wall.

Anna jumped down from the stool again, dragged it over to the next blast and dropped it off before walking over to her colleague. "No, I don't want to be blown up. But I also do not want to get ripped to shreds by police gunfire, so cut the crap and get to work!" She made sure to accompany the work crap with a nice hard slap across the face.

The woman hissed in anger and seriously contemplated giving Anna a good slap back, but that would have resulted in a good old bitch fight and they would never get the job done at that rate. And neither woman was keen to earn a punishment from either Hyena or Vulture. She turned and jumped up onto the stool to begin the tedious and painstaking task of connecting up the sixth blast to the detonator.

**Vulture's pov**

"Not such a tough guy now, are you?" Vulture taunted Wolf as he sat opposite her in the back of the unmarked black van.

"Never was a guy..." She managed, rolling over so that she could look at the man who had caused her so much pain and yet she could still laugh at.

"Just learn to shut your mouth!" He was getting rather bored of her annoying him, the kick that accompanied his order was rather half-hearted and not nearly as hard as usual. But there was no chance to gauge just how pathetic his kick had been when Eddy and Kurt came out of the building with their prisoners.

"Right, in you get." Kurt barked at them, his gun ready to blow either of their brains out if there was not compliance.

The pair looked wide eyed at the woman lying on one side of the van but as Kurt waved his gun impatiently they got in, all be it rather reluctantly, and gave her a wide berth.

"Jesus Christ! What did you do to her?" Eddy exclaimed as he caught sight of the tortured woman.

"Nothing more than we could have expected off her, I assure you." That was a phrase that Vulture loved using to switch subjects.

"Still..." Eddy raised his eyebrows at his boss, despite the fact that he had already blown up or shot several people himself there was something about torture that just didn't sit right with him.

"Shouldn't you be going to get Kiwi?" Vulture turned to Kurt, after giving Eddy a harsh stare for his show of slight guilt and compassion.

"Huh?" Kurt was too busy fingering his pistol to hear the question properly until it was repeated for him in a rather more annoyed tone "Oh, she was virtually dead anyway..."

"You didn't!" Despite springing up at the thought of that, Vulture would certainly have tipped his metaphorical hat to Kurt if he had dispatched the annoying Aussie woman with so little care.

"Nah, just left her there. Let the explosives do the work for us" He trailed off rather nonchalantly as he started fingering his gun again.

"And here I was thinking that you preferred the personal approach..." The level of respect Vulture felt for Kurt plummeted; the later of course did not know that.

"It's still personal; she knows who's detonating the blasts" Kurt waved it away; he always prided himself on his 'personal' way of dealing with those he killed.

"Hm... As long as you're sure that this will end her"

"There's no way it can't! Like I said before the infection's almost knocked her off already"

"Fine, you'd better get back in and set it up." The Romanian was just about ready to be rid of the pair, they were annoying him now.

"What about you?" Eddy piped up again, rather stupidly.

"And when exactly did I stop being your boss?" Vulture barked at him, Eddy in particular was starting to tick him off big time and that never boded well for the offender.

"Okay, okay, going!" Eddy backed off and turned to jog back into the building, Kurt took slightly longer as he stroked his pistol absent mindedly. Vulture had to bark at him to get the message through and even then the man was reluctant to leave his prisoners.

"Damn airhead..." He growled as soon as the subordinate was out of sight, leaning against the open door of the van but still keeping an eye on those inside it.

"Loves his guns..." Wolf managed, giving him a quick glance to make sure that there were no feet headed in her general direction.

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?"

There was no reply which could either be presumed to be her following the advice or her struggling to come up with a witty come back. However before she could make said come back Hyena came out, walking in a rather wobbly and diagonal manner.

She looked dangerously close to tipping over at points, it would have been rather amusing if it weren't for the circumstances. Finally she reached the van and half collapsed against the other open door. For a moment she looked cautiously into the back of the vehicle and seemed to be trying some mental arithmetic for a few moments before she asked "Where's the other one?"

"Being burned alive" Vulture stated matter-of-factly, not bothering to look at he woman as he replied.

Hyena glanced over at the building but on seeing no ravaging flames turned back in confusion, her expression said everything that she would be better off not saying.

"Not yet, they're still setting it up" Vulture was slightly bemused at just how out of it Hyena was; it reminded him of the one time that he had ever seen her drunk. He was tempted to laugh but he knew that she could be even more cranky when out of it.

"Oh... We going yet?" She changed the subject and her train of thought faster than she could blink, more evidence of her absent minded state.

"Not just yet" Hyena moaned, reverting to the sort of tone she had used back when they were all younger, and friends...

"Have you taken painkillers?" The Romanian was almost afraid of the answer and sighed loudly when she nodded, just great she had gone and got herself high on bloody painkillers! "Right, you're getting in"

She looked almost panicky when he said that "In there, with them?"

It took most of Vulture's small supply of self-restraint to not slap the woman until she snapped out of it, instead he took her hand and pulled her round to the front of the van. Shoving her roughly in he put the seatbelt on her and before closing the door warned "Don't touch _anything_!"

Unfortunately the combination of no guns being pointed at King and the temporary absence of the guard made Axel decide to attempt another escape. But he was not the quietest escapee and by the time he had got out of the van Vulture was back. Without his gun at the ready though the Romanian was not prepared to cope with the teen.

"Jo-Lan Choubatsu!" He shouted as he struck the man's gut with the energy emanating from his palms sending the rather pissed off Vulture flying backwards into the wall. "Come on!" He called to King as he began running, turning his head to check on his friend was rather a mistake however.

Thwack! The blow to the head knocked him out then and there before he crumpled to the floor, unable to fight back. Dove looked rather pleased with herself as she stood over the unconscious figure, the rifle with which she had just smacked him round the head perched on her shoulder as she struck something of a victory pose. "Good thing we ran out of wire"

"What the..." Vulture staggered to his feet, the blow had caught him completely off guard and now he was slightly dazed and about twice as annoyed as before.

"No need to thank me" Dove smiled as she turned to head into the building "Just doing my duty... And getting some batting practise in..."

For a moment he was utterly confused about what had just happened until Vulture caught sight of King, hovering between staying put or making a break for it. "Don't even think about it..." He growled, pulling another gun out of one of his many hiding places.

King got the message and retreated back into the van, sitting down at the furthermost point from both the door and Wolf, who had ceased moving much aside from breathing. After a minute and the sounds of the Romanian struggling, the unconscious Axel was thrown in with them and a fuming Vulture slammed the doors shut.

"Anger management..." Wolf's hoarse voice made King jump, he had assumed that she was out cold. "Never learns... To shut doors..."

**Anna's pov**

"All done..." The blonde smiled to herself, all seven blasts were finally connected up to the detonator in her hand. "Now, to get clear..."

The devious plan that had formed in Anna's head had been in the making for a while, she had just not been sure when to use it. And now was the perfect time for it, everything was going exactly as she wanted to boot. The redhead had gone off to get some extra wire, none was needed of course, and that in itself would give her the pleasure of pissing off Dove. But Anna had always been the brutal type and she could not just let it go there...

She had a quick look round the room and checked that the blasts were all ready. For a moment she considered taking some of the drugs with her, or maybe an AK47, but she resisted the urge and picked up her coat before leaving. She ran low to make sure that she both got away before Dove came back and that the police raid squad did not see her. The gunfire was still going, the grunts of the drug lord were certainly putting up a massive fight this time...

Climbing up onto the flat roof of a nearby building, that didn't look as if it were about to collapse, she lay low and watched for Dove to enter the 'stash shack'. It took a few minutes but sure enough there was the hated redhead. Anna gave an evil smile and pressed the button on her detonator, 60 seconds and counting until the blasts went off. For a few moments she lay there watching the door in case Dove heard the beeping of the activated blasts and made a run for it. Then Anna realised that _she_ could hear the beeping...

But blasts were not that loud, and Dove hadn't bolted so she couldn't have heard it. So either Dove was deaf or... Anna felt her coat pocket, and her worst suspicions were confirmed "That sly little..."

**Vulture's pov**

The explosion ripped through the air of the favela, drowning out the gunfire easily and lighting up the smoke with an orange hue.

"Shit!" Vulture turned and jerked open the front door of the van. "Those damn idiots were supposed to wait until I gave the signal... Now this is all out of sync..." He was torn between two options but he was an expert at quickly overcoming indecision.

Leaving the door open he stalked back inside, to find that Eddy and Kurt were enjoying their task of torching the hideout rather too much and going about it in an irritatingly gay fashion. He eyed up the pair for a moment then thought better of disturbing them. Grabbing a can of petrol, which hadn't already been emptied by the others, he left and locked the door behind him.

After a quick glance around he took the can and dowsed the walls, and door, of the hideout with petrol. He walked back to the van and started the engine before pulling out his lighter. For a while he just stood there, toying with the tool and the idea, but the banging on the door shook him out of it.

"You might want to stand back!" He shouted to the trapped pair before flicking the lighter open and throwing it into the puddle of petrol. The ignition was instant and flames leapt up, meeting the door within a matter of seconds. "Enjoy Hell!" Vulture called over his shoulder as he jumped into the van and put the accelerator down...

* * *

Woah, massacre... These guys really are evil, and so am I... Oh well, we'll find out what happens / happened to these guys in the chapter after next. But in the meantime we return to the two trios next time: Who has arrived at Spectra's hideout? What does the new arrival mean for Jackal, Lioness and Andrew? How will Vixen, Shark and Hawk escape the raiders? What the hell has happened to Katie? Find out next time, see you there!


	20. Ripple Effect

Hiya, time for chapter 20… Only about 10 left after this, at least by my current estimations so this should be finished by the end of summer. The story hit 4000 hits on the last chapter so I'm quite pleased with that, very confidence boosting! Thanks to **csimiamigirl73**,** Beccaxoxo704**,** Dragon-Ninjagirl** and **Arwen16** fore reviewing chapter 19, again much appreciated. Anyway, this chapter returns to Jackal and Vixen's povs; we see who the new entrant to the mercenary hideout is and find out whether Vixen, Shark and Hawk can escape the police…

**Disclaimer**: As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Jackal, Vixen, etc, etc...

Ripple Effect

**Jackal's pov**

"Speak of the Devil…" 'Ace smiled slightly and pulled the door open to grant access to the figures waiting in the smoky mists.

The first to enter the room was a man, well tanned with a rather largely proportioned body. He was wearing a white suit and had a cigar in one hand, it was clear that this was the drug lord of the favela, Emiliano Costa-Santos. His companion followed shortly after, slightly more concerned about the distant gunfire than the drug lord. It was a she, with short dyed white and purple hair dressed in a black outfit. Under one arm was a laptop and a large black case was in the other hand. As soon as she was in the woman proceeded to set up her computer, ignoring everyone else as she worked.

"So what is the state of my estate?" Emiliano inquired politely, only giving the bound captives a passing glance as he crossed the room to take the seat that Axe had occupied moments before, the boss took priority.

There was a slight pause as the group pondered over who would be best to reply. 'Ace spoke up, she had given the others a quick look and none of them seemed in the right state of mind to answer respectfully enough "Police raid and some trespassers"

"Whose fault is it this time?" He sighed, although Spectra were possibly the most infamous and feared mercenary cell in Rio there were a couple of loose wheels that made being their boss rather annoying at times.

"Well the trespassers are hardly anyone's fault, the raid however…" 'Ace pretty much acted as the MC between Spectra and the drug lord, or anyone else important really for that matter, so she carried on speaking for the group.

However before she could give her conclusions Cutlass shouted over her in his own defence, earning angry glares from the others "I did nothing!"

Suddenly the woman looked up from her computer as it began humming to power up and she bluntly informed them "We have reason to believe that this affair is not of any of your doings, this time at least"

"But who else would have…" Mac exclaimed, she too earned an angry glare for speaking out of turn.

"That is why I am setting this up, to get to the bottom of this mess" She replied bluntly, not giving the ignorant woman much attention.

"Flavia is always so efficient…" Emiliano complimented as he watched her work, she was his longest serving member of 'staff' and so was the one he trusted most.

Despite the compliment and the rather angry glares of a certain mercenary Flavia kept her eyes on the laptop screen as she continued to work towards the goal. However she seemed also to be hacking into the police communications network at the same time and soon she slipped on a headset to listen in.

"So, these are the trespassers then?" Emiliano finally turned his attention properly to the three rather uncomfortable captives and his expression became slightly shocked at the sight of one in particular "Well, well, Jackal me girl! I would have expected you to know to send me a line before coming back…"

Jackal squirmed slightly uncomfortably at the recognition of one of her former bosses, she generally made a rule of staying out of the way of those she had 'parted company' with.

"I suppose that you are still in the employ of good old Silas then?" He asked, prompting her into talking with him. Emiliano, in contrast to Jackal and most others, had no problems with having friendly conversations with those no longer in his employ.

"Not currently" was the blunt reply of the woman, if she was going to be forced into talking then she was going to keep it to a bare minimum, if at all possible given the chattiness of the drug lord.

"Ah, between employers! I should have known…"

"Not exactly…" Divulging information on current employers was one of the biggest no-nos for any mercenary, especially if they didn't want to pay dearly for a wagging tongue.

"I should say, there is an offer from Ms. Alves da Silva currently on the table which I believe you have made to accept." Flavia may have been paying most of her attention to her work but was still clearly in touch with her surroundings too.

"What about Wolf then?" His keenness to chat extended too to their former colleague, then again Wolf had worked for him for quite a while so interest was natural, just not proper or practical.

Jackal wasn't quite sure how to deal with this subject, Wolf could kill her for saying too much. Then again they no longer worked for the same boss, it had confused everyone when the mysterious woman had just left and joined up with another employer. It had miffed and annoyed Jackal, but she guessed that there must be a good reason behind it... "Err… She was working for Rocha but at the moment she's kinda…"

Flavia saved her the trouble and told them all in a matter of fact tone as she kept her eyes, and mind, on her work "Missing, presumed captured"

Several eyebrows were raised at that, it was clearly something that none of them expected from one of the most infamous mercenaries of the 'circuit'. Jackal was slightly insulted that they all seemed to remember her colleague / friend better than her; then again it was probably better not to be known well by the other Rio mercenaries.

"When did this occur?" Emiliano questioned, his plucked eyebrows furrowed in concern and surprise.

"Earlier today, a redheaded woman stormed a room in the Sign of the Seal along with a heavily clothed man and they took two tourists prisoner and from the CCTV footage I've got it looks like they took Wolf as well…" Flavia continued, not bothering to elaborate on the facts of the matter.

"How bizarre!" Mac stated, out of turn again.

Bow in particular appeared to be rather concerned by the news, she had considerable respect for Wolf and the pair had once worked together well "Something must've been up; no ordinary armed thugs could take her down…"

"Oh well, maybe we should get back to _questioning_ the trespassers?" Knife was probably the least bothered, in his mind it was good that one more mercenary was off the 'circuit'.

The drug lord sighed, he would have to have someone look into the matter later, and turned his full attention back to the captives, well one of them. "So Jackal, why were you and your two… companions found on my estate without permission?"

She sighed and began "We were trying to…" But before the explanation could go any further a loud explosion interrupted her, the concrete walls did not do much to deaden the rumble and the ground shook with the force of the blast…

**Vixen's pov**

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" Vixen was not usually one for swearing quite so much in one breath but given the current circumstances she could be forgiven for the rapid succession.

She put her hands against the wall that blocked the alley, and their escape, but it was far too solid to be brought down by anything short of a bulldozer. The buildings on either side were unfortunately some of the better built ones, again too strong for a mere human to knock through. Exit did seem thoroughly impossible.

"Are we going to die?" Hawk ventured, he seemed to be genuinely terrified as the sound of booted footsteps grew ever closer.

"Not if I can help it…" She looked around at the alley to find something to get them out of their current cornered state. It was empty, apart for an empty barrel which they had knocked over moments ago. Glancing back up at the wall she evaluated its height, even with the boost of the barrel they wouldn't be able to reach the top. But then she noticed that the buildings were slightly shorter, perhaps…

"Grab that barrel, I may have figured our way out of this hell hole…" Vixen ordered; keeping her eyes fixed on the roof edge as if it would grow higher if she turned her back.

The boys complied, slightly hesitant at heading towards the guns of the raid force but they were considerably faster on the return. She took hold of the old oil drum and moved it closer to the wall before stepping up onto it… Stretching her arms upwards she could just latch her fingers onto the edge of the corrugated metal roof. Biting down she clenched down tighter on the panel, flinching slightly as it bit into her fingers, and slowly pulled herself up. Fortunately the panel was well attached; she had been slightly worried about it falling through with her weight on it.

Leaning back over she called down "Quick, I'll help pull you up but you'd better hurry!"

Neither needed telling twice but it was Hawk who was up onto the barrel faster. Vixen reached down and grabbed him round the wrist, for a better grip, and proceeded to try and haul him up. He was rather heavy but she had spent long enough carrying beer kegs to the bar to cope with the weight. Once he was safely up she reached back down for Shark, who was lighter and easier to pull up, mainly because he wasn't just a dead weight and grabbed onto the roof to help her.

But instead of dashing off quickly across the rooftops of the favela Vixen stayed put, watching the alley intently.

"What are you waiting for?" Hawk was rather shocked that she, and they, were not running as fast as possible into the distance to escape the seemingly insane police force of Rio.

She didn't reply; she was too busy trying to figure out just how to make sure that the raid squad did not simply follow them up. The barrel was almost as clear an indication of where they had gone than a large neon sign post. Then she realised her stupidity, jumping over the wall of course. Once they left the favela the police were bound to leave them alone, at least in theory. Slowly she pushed herself up, her fingers were throbbing and she could feel the stickiness of blood. "We'd better get outta here fast"

"Are you bleeding?" Shark noticed her hands, and the redness of the roof edge, and couldn't help but express some concern over it.

"That doesn't matter, as soon as we're over that wall we are in the clear" Vixen waved it aside, she knew better than to worry about something so insignificant right now.

Shark looked slightly dubious at her waving her injury off like that but kept quiet, right now escape was probably more important. Hawk was not quite so concerned and had no hesitation on creeping over to the edge of the wall and swinging himself over. There was a slight 'umph' as he landed on the hard tarmac of the road on the other side, fortunately there was not an abandoned car dumped there as was so common on the edges of Rio's favelas.

"You okay down there?" Vixen called, not really too worried about the teen, she just wanted to get out of the hellish place as soon as possible. The sooner they were out in the main city, the sooner she could get back in contact with Su Ji and the sooner she could find out if any of the others had made it out alive.

There was a slight pause before they heard the slightly annoyed reply of "Peachy…"

"Well move out of the way then!" She hissed back, keeping her voice down now to not attract the police any faster than necessary. As soon as he had moved away from the landing spot Vixen turned to Shark "Your turn"

"But what about you?" He immediately asked, a little stupidly.

"I'll be right behind…" She answered, putting a hand on his shoulder and giving an extra push as he jumped down. "You okay?"

"Fine" He called back up and quickly moved out of the way "Now hurry up so we can get going!"

"Hey! Nagging on is my department!" Vixen smiled though; maybe these boys weren't as bad as they had originally seemed, well Shark at least. Yet she did not move any closer to the edge and instead crept back over to check on the alley, still no police raiders… Standing up she was about to move back over and swing herself off the wall when a burst of sound exploded from the depths of the favela, shaking the ground, and building, violently. So violently that she lost her footing and was thrown off the roof, back into that accursed alley…

* * *

Oh no! Vixen is back in that alley again, at least Shark and Hawk are safe though, or are they?? Next time we return to the others, maybe not Kiwi though… Well you'll just have to wait until next time to find out what happens / happened. See you there soon!


	21. Feel the Burn

Hi again guys, 21 now... I was just a little delayed by exams this week, 7 exams in 4 days... Anyway we return to the baddies this time and a certain somebody makes an appearance. In fact this chapter is all from the povs of the nasty guys, and we get to meet an even nastier one (if that's possible). Thanks to **csimiamigirl73**, **Arwen16** and **Dragon-Ninjagirl** for reviewing chapter 20, appreciated as always.

**Disclaimer**: As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Kiwi, Hyena, Vulture, etc, etc...

Feel the Burn

**Eddy's pov**

When Eddy first realised that the door was locked he thought it was just some sort of warped joke of Vulture's, or maybe the high Hyena... He tried the handle again slightly more urgently, they had just set the flames off, and soon he was outright banging on it. "Shit!"

Kurt meanwhile lit his last match and dropped it into a small pile of paper, for a delayed ignition of the petrol. He heard the other man swear and taking what he though was one last look around strode over to leave. "Might want to open the door now genius"

"I can't! Someone's locked it!" Eddy shouted at him, voice cracking slightly as his panicky voice became rather high pitched.

"What?" Kurt roughly pushed him aside and tried the handle for himself, it would not budge though even under his hard wrenches. "Shit!"

"What do we do? The fire's already started, we'll be burned alive!" Practically screamed Eddy and he grabbed the other man to begin shaking him in terror.

"Don't be stupid!" Kurt snapped back as he pried himself free of Eddy's grip, his panic staying slightly more veiled "This is just one of those character building exercises they are always throwing at us!"

"A little extreme don't you think?" Eddy was having trouble containing his fear now and was all out banging on the immovable door, then they both heard an all too familiar voice shouting from the other side.

"You might want to stand back!" Vulture's voice was tinted with the sort of happy tone he only used in one circumstance, when he was about to kill someone... The realisation struck both at the same time; Eddy only banged harder on the infuriatingly thick wood while Kurt slowly backed away in slight disbelief. Then the sound of flames came from the other side of the door and heat made the distressed man move back from their only escape route. "Enjoy Hell!" Was the less than sentimental parting offered by Vulture before an engine revved and he left.

"No! You can't do this to us you fucking maniac!" Now Eddy was screaming as he once again banged frantically on the door, it was almost funny how much he sounded like a girl in his panic and if it wasn't for the immediate danger Kurt would have laughed at that.

"He already has, and calling Vulture a maniac would not have helped our case..." Kurt told him and grabbed him by the collar to pull him away from the door, no fear yet noticeable in his low voice.

"What can we do?" Now restrained from banging on the door the panic stricken man resorted to once again shaking his companion violently until the victim got free again.

"Well we can sit here and accept our gruesome fate or try and find an alternate way out" Even before he began evaluating the room Kurt had little hope, flames would soon be setting upon them from both sides and the thick black smoke was starting to obscure the air. "We need to get out of this room!"

Eddy wasted no time following this order and sprinted off as soon as the words left the other man's mouth, destroying any evidence of their operations certainly seemed to have lost its fun now that they were part of the stuff that needed to be removed from existence. They were soon out of the large main room, unfortunately though they were now in the underground cells...

"Fuck!" Kurt was the first to realise the problem and turned on his heel to get back out but the flames picked that exact moment to hit the petrol, in a matter of seconds a massive wall of fire filled the main room. "Shit! No good..."

"What are you going back for?" Eddy had paused a few feet further down the dim passage and had a look of confusion and amazement on his face at the sight of Kurt heading back towards certain death.

"This is underground you idiot! There aren't any windows to climb out of!" The frustration finally started to show as Kurt rounded on the rather slow man.

"Oh crap..." was all he could manage in response.

"Come on! We'd better get as far away from these flames as we can!" He began running down the corridor again, grabbing hold of the other man who was still in a sort of state of shock. Soon enough though they came to the end, no where left to run...

"So we just wait now?" Eddy's face, and posture, were extremely scared, sad and almost pitifully resemblant of a cornered animal anticipating its demise.

Kurt nodded before sighing "Just great, my last minutes on Earth and I get to spend them with an idiot like you..." He leaned back against the end wall and closed his eyes, until the sound of coughing caught his attention. "Was that you?"

"No." Obviously Eddy was still in shock and so was more slow than usual if that was entirely possible for him to be.

He moved away from the wall and unlocked the nearest cell door before pushing it open. His eyes widened at the sight before him, the Aussie was still alive. However before he could recover himself and make a witty snide comment Kurt heard a loud bang from upstairs which sounded suspiciously like a door being kicked in...

**Vulture's pov**

Even though he had just had the pleasure of setting two of his most annoying underlings on fire Vulture was still rather pissed off as he drove the unmarked black van, at speed, out of the chaotic favela. He growled as he rammed through a police barricade and the tires screeched as they once again hit the tarmac of one of Rio's official roads. In the passenger seat Hyena squirmed like a small child, fortunately he had the foresight the stick a proper lock on the seatbelt so that the painkiller induced high woman would not get loose while he was driving. This whole day was just starting to really piss Vulture off.

In order to keep from being slowed down by what he supposed was an old age pensioner, or monkey, in a car he turned the steering wheel viciously and mounted the pavement, nearly hitting several individuals. He cursed, if only one of them had been slower in diving out of the way... There were no police cars around, they were all busy attacking the favela, so there was no worry of a pursuit for dangerous driving.

Soon enough though he arrived at the destination of his angry drive, almost reluctantly he turned off the main road and headed up the private drive to finally pull up in an underground parking lot. The engine cut out and for a moment the Romanian just sat there, silently venting. But then the sound of footsteps brought him out of his mental rant and he opened the door to meet the group.

"Less of you than we expected..." The man at the front of the approaching group began, as he spoke he took off the pair of dark sunglasses that covered his eyes before coming to a halt in front of the somewhat annoyed Romanian. This was quite clearly a powerful man, not least because of the number of sports cars sat in the parking lot, he wore a posh suit which was clearly tailored and his posture oozed confidence.

"Well they were idiots anyway." Vulture waved it aside, making sure though to sound as respectful as possible in his current mood as he spoke to the boss.

"So who have we got then?" The lack of proper respect did not seem to bother the boss as he inquired in an almost condescendingly polite voice as he eyed up the black van slightly distastefully, he preferred expensive sports cars in his private parking lot to battered cheap mockeries of vehicles.

Vulture saw the look of distaste and had to swallow back an expression of dislike towards his 'employer' before giving a more correct reply "Hyena, myself, and the captives."

"Who are?" The boss did not bother to look at the subordinate as he kept his tone consistent, he knew that even if he really pissed off Vulture then his five strong flank of henchmen would take care of him before he could do anything 'stupid'.

"A couple of tourists, and Wolf..." He made sure to leave the most important person until last, even though he didn't know why Vulture was aware of what importance was attached to the rather annoying woman.

The boss raised his eyebrows before muttering his approval of the capture "The girl herself... I am impressed..."

"We aim to please _Sir_." Vulture made a mock bow as he replied, either not noticing the threatening gestures of the henchmen or choosing to ignore them.

"Are the rest dealt with then?" He asked, his back still turned to the grumpy Romanian and keeping his angry frown at the sarcasm hidden, for the moment.

"Kiwi's as good as; we're still waiting to see if Jackal, Vixen, Andrew, Katie, Lioness or Su Ji are though." Vulture continued as if completely unaware of his pissing off the boss and his henchmen more with every word he said.

"So there's a maximum of six left out there?" Displeasure was now clear in the voice of the man, he had expected better for the amount of time he had given these people...

Vulture gritted his teeth and tersely replied "Yes, but they were in the favela so they could have been taken care of for us."

"Well then, I'll just have to send someone to go get confirmation on them later. After all there is no payment until _all_ of the Shadows are dead" He reminded, not so gently, but the veiled threat in those words seemed to slip the annoyed man's notice.

"Of course..." Vulture was slightly tired of not being paid anything until every person on that hit list was dead, not even a cent had come his way yet despite having bumped off so many of them.

"I suppose Anna, Dove, Kurt and Eddy are all gone?" He finally turned his eyes back to the grumbling man, he had very little patience for those who moaned or dared to try and second guess him.

"Not definitely; I'm pretty sure it was Anna that got blown up and the two guys were left to burn..." Vulture told him, feeling a slight twinge of emotion at not knowing the state of Dove. But of course that was just a pang of contempt and hatred, nothing more.

"Some body count you're racking up..." An eyebrow of the boss was raised; he was not annoyed by the number of dead bodies, it was the lack of them that was trying his patience to its limits with the pathetic group of would be mercenaries.

"That you pay for." Vulture reminded, the thought of payment did perk him up just a little "Am I permitted to know just why you want the Shadows dead yet?"

"No. You won't ever get to the point where that information is divulged." The man turned away from the Romanian and gave a flick of his hand. The armed henchmen knew what to do; while four went to retrieve the 'passengers' from the van the other brought out his gun, level with Vulture's head.

"What th..." He never finished that sentence as the trigger was pulled; his limp corpse dropped to the floor and the one who had shot him turned to his boss for further orders.

"Surprise me..." were the only words he said but their meaning was obviously clear to the grunt as he set about cleaning up after himself. The 'boss' kept his back to the scene and finally walked away, slipping his sunglasses back on as he left the parking lot...

* * *

More death, morbid aren't I? I don't suppose anyone gets the reference of that last statement, do you? Well anyway, you're just going to have to wait until chapter 23 to find out who this boss guy is and whether any of them are going to get out of that burning building alive along with what was making that banging... Back to Jackal, Vixen and co next chapter; maybe they'll be a little more lucky than some of these guys, or not... See you there!


	22. Divide and Survive

Hi guys! I am back and it's, finally, time for chapter 22… Sorry for the delay, long story, but I should be back on my roll now and be able to steam ahead. We move back to Vixen, Jackal and the others this time, slightly less evilness… And there is not much more to say or do than thank **Dragon-Ninjagirl** and **Arwen16** for your reviews of chapter 21 (please don't kill me for being late) and to let you get on with the chapter (Sorry it's a little short).

**Disclaimer**: As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Vixen, Jackal, Spectra, etc, etc...

Divide and Survive

**Vixen's pov**

"Ah shit!" Unlike most women Vixen had curbed the urge to scream, either at the shock of the distant explosion and being thrown off the roof or at the pain that likewise exploded in her brain.

She was lying, face down, in the same damn alley she had shredded her palms to get out of. With a groan of effort she pushed herself up, getting her face out of the mud that was now smeared across it. One eye wouldn't open as something, she assumed dried mud, was holding it shut. Staying still with her, still bleeding, hands supporting her she looked around.

The smoke still dominated what little vision she had, even after all this time it still clung to its existence perhaps because of the lack of moisture in the air. Suddenly she noticed the absence of armed police coming to kill her, there was no sign of them in the alley and the noise of heavy boots had long since faded. Their commander had probably wanted them to investigate the rather sudden explosion…

The explosion! She had almost forgotten about it, but there was no doubt in her mind as to its cause. The treacherous leeches had blown up their base to cover the tracks… God she hoped they hadn't left the others in their, the image of Kiwi choking to death from fumes gained prominence in her head.

But before she could get stuck in the dreadful images of her friend dying the sound of a voice reached her. "Vixen! Are you okay?"

She smiled slightly, she'd only known this guy for what seemed like the longest day of her life but he still sounded genuinely concerned about her. "I'm… fine!" Vixen shouted back, voice slightly choked by the mud still in her mouth "I'll be over in a sec!"

And with that she pushed herself up, or at least tried to. Pain stabbed through her and she was forced to slump back down with a rather strangled cry. Her face was back in the mud but she pushed herself back up partially so that only her upper half was off the ground. Almost fearing what she would see she turned and looked over her shoulder with her one good eye. Her right leg was twisted in an awfully unnatural manner, definitely broken although she would have used the word pulverised.

"Shit…" she was saying that a lot at the moment.

"Are you okay?" Shark called again, he had vaguely heard the cry and swearing.

"Not really, my leg's useless…" She hazarded another glance at it; dislocations had always made her stomach churn.

"We'll come back for you then…" That suggestion did not seem to go down well with Hawk who had probably made some indignant remark.

"No!" Vixen called back quickly, the last thing any of them needed were more arguments and more people being stuck in the favela. "You two have got to get away from this place, get back to Su Ji at the warehouse! She'll sort this mess out."

"But…" He was certainly reluctant to leave, his friend probably not so much.

"No buts, unless you both want to be taken in by the police!" She shouted back, trying to get them off with the least argument. It worked, as far as she could tell, and soon the sounds of their footsteps faded away also. She just hoped that they would do as they were told, they didn't seem the type to do that normally though…

Sighing she slid back down and rested her head on her hands to keep it out of the mud. There was no way she was going to try and roll herself onto her back; that would risk damaging her leg further. She then remembered her eye and moved her hand up to try and unseal it from the mud. It was wet, sticky and… fresh. 'God' she thought and removed her hand hurriedly before trying to occupy her mind with recounting every swear word in her vocabulary.

**Jackal's pov**

The grim rumble of an explosion set alarm bells ringing in the heads of almost everyone in the concrete hideout. But none could react as the accompanying ground shaking forced all those not already on the floor down. It was certainly close by the amount of power they felt, it was like a small earthquake. Fortunately the vibrations stopped before any major structural damage was done and they were, almost, all free to get back to their feet carefully.

"What the… If that was those feds!" The drug lord was visibly shaken by his own territory being treated in such a way, no explosions had ever occurred unless he said so.

"I doubt it…" Flavia assured him as she furiously tried to reconnect any loose wires in her equipment as fast as possible, if she had her computer up she could undoubtedly learn everything they needed to know as rapidly as possible.

"No, that wasn't a fed blast…" 'Ace frowned, her speciality lying in explosives, she was most disturbed by the signs "That sort of explosive power would require at least a round of eight blasts… No delay in between, I'd guess at a 60 second delay period after detonation, sounds like American design to me…"

"Well you can get into even more detail when you take a look at the things." Bow snapped at her impatiently, this had shaken her up and she didn't like it.

"No chance, if they are of the design I suspect there will be not a trace left of the actual shells." 'Ace did not notice the annoyance, or chose to ignore it.

"Anyway, I don't care what type of blasts caused this; I want to know who the hell thinks they can get away with blowing up my estate!" Emiliano too was nearing the end of his fuse; no one did this to him, no one!

"Roger that sir!" Axe took over talking and command as 'Ace was busy being wrapped up in her explosive identification. With that he turned away from his boss and fixed in his gaze each person he addressed "Bow and Knife, you guys go and investigate this explosion before the feds start crawling over it like ants. Cutlass, Mac you guys go on a general recon to check out what the feds are doing if they aren't piling on the explosion. Spear you stay here with 'Ace, I'll go out and check on the feds as well."

"Right." The rest of Spectra voiced their agreement simultaneously, except for Bow who just nodded grimly.

**Vixen's pov**

She had no idea how much later it was when Vixen suddenly heard the sound of footsteps, soft and deliberate. It was almost certainly a new day though, an eternity seemed to have passed but it was so dark it must have been past midnight. This sound though made her push herself back up, so as to see whoever it was as soon as possible.

For a few moments nothing happened, the footsteps came closer slowly until a silhouette rounded the corner. It was tall; then again her viewpoint did probably throw it a bit, and it seemed masculine. She was temporarily torn between calling out for help and playing dead; this debate was still raging when the figure reached her.

"Shit, you're beat up pretty bad…" The voice was definitely a male; he crouched down next to the woman and both inspected the other.

Aside from his sex and outline very little could be seen about him, a mask obscured his face, except for the fact that, as his clothing indicated, this guy liked the colour red. She could tell that he could tell a lot about her; after all she wasn't nearly as conspicuous as him.

"Gunslingers do this to you?" He asked, concern not quite edging into the rather rigid tone.

"No, myself and the explosion…" She replied, not too keen t go into details until she knew just who this guy was.

Even though she couldn't see for sure Vixen guessed that he raised an eyebrow at that; however he did not pursue the matter further. Instead he asked "Leg broken?"

"Think so, I can't walk on it…" Again a quick and factual reply.

"Right." He seemed more to be talking to himself than her, as if he had just decided something. This assumption was soon proven right when he scooped her up and strode on purposefully. Vixen wasn't quite sure what to make of this new twist but she decided to go along with it, for the time being…

* * *

Ah poor Vix… At least someone's helping her now, or are they? We return to Wolf and the others next time, find out more about the 'boss' and see if anyone survives that burning building… See you next time!


	23. Questions

Hi again! Chapter 23 now, and we return to a certain burning building and evil boss… It's getting closer to the end now, and answers are just around the corner. Of course though I am the mistress of twists, turns and cliff hangers… Anyway thanks to **Dragon-Ninjagirl** and **Arwen16** for reviewing the previous chapter, much appreciated (And thanks to **Mia Kyra Callwel **for your review of whichever chapter it was). And on with the chapter.

**Disclaimer**: As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Kiwi, Hyena, etc, etc... (Note the lack of Vulture and weep)

Questions

**Eddy's pov**

The loud bangs continued until there was one large crash, it sounded as though someone had broken through the door… Both men strained their ears in an attempt to confirm their suspicions and prove that they weren't hallucinating; even though they were most likely about to die they did not want to lose their dignity by becoming crazed. But when they heard loud cursing, both gave silent sighs of relief.

Without thinking twice Eddy scrambled up and ran back up the passage towards the noises, and hopefully other people. "Yo! We're down in here!"

Suddenly out of the flames a masked figure appeared, the mask was black but they wore a violet bodysuit that made the figure undeniably female. It almost seemed an answered dream, until the woman lunged forward and grabbed him by the throat. She pulled him into the relative safety of the passage and pushed him up against the wall "Who else is here?"

"My partner and an injured Aussie…" He finally managed, being pushed up against walls by women wasn't something new to him but in the current circumstances it did take him somewhat by surprise.

"Where's Wolf?" She asked straight away, this obviously being the most pressing issue on her mind as opposed to the fact that they were still inside a burning building.

His eyes widened, this person knew their stuff and seemed in the mood to harm him if good answers weren't forthcoming. "I…"

Thankfully before he had to tell this terrifying woman that he had no idea where Wolf was another, much more masculine and burly figure appeared through the flames. He cautiously tapped the woman on the shoulder and asked "Any others?"

"Two, further down, one injured." She told him, not taking her attention off her prisoner.

"Maybe you should continue that outside, I'll get the others." He advised her calmly, even though he perhaps wouldn't have minded her staying behind.

"Fine. But this doesn't count as following orders." She growled at him, turning her head to give an angry glare that dared him to disagree.

No disagreement was offered so they split up. The man headed down the passage to get the other two while the woman kept rough hold of Eddy's collar and dragged him, not so carefully, through the main room and into the wonderful openness of the favela. She forcibly pushed him to the ground but at the moment he was too busy getting the relatively smoke free air into his lungs.

Soon enough the burlier figure appeared out of the flames, coughing, while dragging an incapacitated Kurt behind him and with Kiwi slung limply over his shoulder. His colleague went over to take the unconscious woman off him and proceeded to check her over while he dumped Kurt and recovered his breath.

"She needs medical attention." The woman soon ordered; she was clearly the one wearing the metaphorical trousers in this partnership.

The man nodded simply and picked up the injured, nearly dead, woman then marched off without a backwards glance.

By now both Eddy and Kurt had recovered their breath and finished coughing, neither were keen to stick around so at the first opportunity, when the woman's back was turned, tried to run for it. This proved to be a rather stupid idea as their feet were quickly and easily knocked out from under them and they found themselves faced with one angry woman.

"Where did you think you were going?" She asked, threat clear in her tone. They had no chance to answer however before she pulled out her previously hidden gun. "Now, we're going to continue that conversation. Where is Wolf?"

Eddy gulped while Kurt looked slightly confused and quickly, and stupidly, answered her question simply without any thought. "Don't know."

"What d' you mean you don't know?" She was getting annoyed at the lack of progress, it showed.

"I mean she was taken in the van which drove off to an unknown destination while our boss left us to burn." Kurt replied angrily, he didn't know what her deal was and frankly didn't care. He was too busy being pissed off at his boss to be sensible.

"You have no idea where your 'boss' took her then?"

"None whatsoever" He replied simply and honestly, a not too frequent occurrence for him although none present seemed to care about that fact.

She paused for a few moments and looked the pair up and down before finally stating "Well then, you're pretty much useless…"

Relief dawned on one face, anticipation on the other. Yet there was no time to correct the expression as the woman aimed her weapon, and shot. Both were dead within seconds, she was a practised mercenary after all. A slight smile flickered across her face as the woman looked at the bodies but was quickly replaced by a frown. If her colleague had been there to observe it he might have mistaken the expression for concern…

**Wolf's pov**

Consciousness returned uncomfortably quickly; Wolf had enjoyed the oblivion, especially when she knew more pain awaited her on reawakening. However she had to wake up at some point, she wasn't dead, yet. A groan was unwillingly emitted as she opened her eyes and felt the aching and pain of her body return.

She was lying on her front so she pushed herself unsteadily up to look around and gauge her location. Another cell, but this one was completely white and full of bright light. The floor on which she was lying seemed to be padded and she guessed that the walls were too. The door wasn't immediately obvious but a darkened window that she knew to be a one way mirror was clear on the wall which she currently faced.

"Great…" She finally managed to get her vocal chords to obey her, they were still sore from her unwilling screams earlier.

A flutter of movement in the corner of her vision alerted her to the fact that she was not alone. Wolf didn't need to turn her head to know who was imprisoned with her, again. The pair of teenagers had gained a fear of her it seemed, despite the fact that she was the one being beaten up and tortured.

"I don't suppose you boys know who's got us?" She asked hoarsely, although her voice was croaky and strained she could at least now manage to form whole sentences.

"We were hoping you could answer that." The more aggressive of the two shot back at her; he seemed to have little patience left in him. He couldn't really be blamed though; Rio did that to people, especially those who got caught up in gang business like this.

Wolf didn't look at them and merely focused on heaving herself into a sitting position, even though it made her aches and pains worse she had to stay dignified. She of course did have her suspicions as to whose clutches they were now in, and she desperately hoped that she was wrong. But then again denial never got anyone anywhere, even if it did make things seem less bleak.

However she knew that only one person on Earth would be going to this much trouble on account of the Shadows, or more specifically her. Wolf wasn't the type to think that the whole world revolved around her or that she was the most important person on Earth. Yet if it was who she feared, then the whole thing was down to her…

A loud throat clearing brought her out of her thoughts, and at the same time reminded her how long it was since she had last drunk something and how much she would like some water. However the annoyed teenager was not something she felt in the mood to confront so sighed and complied. "What exactly do you want to know?"

Axel made an annoyed noise, he was pissed off and in no mood to be nice. "What the hell is going on would be nice!"

"Sorry, but I don't fully know for sure…" She answered truthfully, but at the look on his face added "Be slightly more specific and I might be able to help."

A few moments of silence passed before he found a suitably simple question to ask "Why was there a hit list?"

"Someone wanted… wants the Shadows dead." Wolf corrected herself; it wasn't over yet, not by a long shot.

"Why?" He questioned immediately; Axel didn't want sketchy answers, not after all that had happened.

"Not entirely sure…"

It seemed likely that Axel would lunge out at her in annoyance and impatience; however King interrupted with a slightly better question. "Why do you think this is happening?"

She smiled at that, at least someone had some sense. Quite why Lioness was so wrapped up in the guy she had no idea. However his friend had asked a question which she was loath to answer, to voice her opinion would bring it one step closer to acknowledgment as the truth. Also when locked in a room with two people who had gone through hell because of them it did not seem a very safe idea. Yet silence was also inadvisable, so she decided to bite the bullet, maybe their captors would step in if she was attacked…

"I _think_ that someone is trying to deal out some pay back…" Wolf stressed the word 'think', anxious for it to stay just a thought.

"Do you have a name?" King asked, again getting to the mark before his friend could even open his mouth. He didn't like Axel in this mood, nor did he like the fact that he was starting to go the same way too.

Sighing she nodded "I believe that this whole thing was ordered by someone by the alias of Mystery-Man…"

The sentence was cut short by the sound of cold, cruel and maniacal laughter coming though speakers attached to the ceiling of the cell. It seemed that Wolf's fears about speaking of her theory were all too true. She winced visibly at the sound, it was him all right.

"Well done Wolfie! Although maybe that conversation at the internet café probably helped you along a bit…" The voice mused, if he was watching the room then he chose to ignore the fact that Wolf was tensing up more ever second.

Her fists clenched and teeth barred, it was him… Even after that IM conversation she hadn't quite allowed herself to believe that it was him, but then again he hadn't really given her much information. Just told her that he was back out on the streets and would be 'swinging by' soon. Still, she couldn't deny it any longer. He had her trapped, cornered, helpless…

She shook her head, not wanting to remember the last time she had encountered 'Mystery-Man' properly. The fact that she was trembling did not improve her state of mind though. This man truly terrified her, and that was saying something. If they were in his grasps then what Vulture and Hyena had put them through would seem kind…

"Well, I'll put you out of your blatant misery Wolfie my girl… But I think it's time to talk properly, face to face…" The crackle at the end of his sentence told her that he had turned off the microphone.

A few moments passed before the sound of a door handle being turned reached them. Wolf tried her best to keep her face emotionless, unreadable, as her worst nightmare approached. Then the door swung open, he was here…

* * *

Dun, dun, dun… Do I sense answers coming? Of course I do, I'm the writer! Poor, poor Wolf though. And Kiwi lives! Of course she's not out of the woods yet, but she isn't trapped in a burning building so that's a considerable improvement! Anyway next time we see how Vixen's doing, what Spectra are doing and maybe a certain little techie called Su Ji might make a reappearance… See you there!


	24. The Approaching Dawn

Hello all. Right, we are onto chapter 24 now, slightly delayed but also slightly longer than originally planned. As promised Su Ji returns, Vixen finds out more about her 'helper', we see some more of Lioness and Shark and Hawk are wandering around. Now I'll thank **Mia Kyra Callwel** who reviewed the last chapter, _very_ much appreciated. And on with the chapter.

**Disclaimer**: As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Vixen, Jackal, Spectra, etc, etc...

The Approaching Dawn

**Vixen's pov**

Vixen woke with a start; pain was the first thing that registered in her still fogged brain and she gasped as it all hit her in one foul wave. A voice was the next thing she noticed, a man's saying something that sounded roughly like 'relax'. Mentally she snorted, how was she supposed to relax when in so much pain? And in such an uncomfortable position?

However as she sought to correct her arrangement she suddenly remembered what had happened before she passed out and realised why she couldn't feel anything underneath her except under her neck and knees. She was being carried. That revelation made her blush slightly, but given the current bloody state of her face her helper didn't notice.

"So who exactly are you?" She finally managed after a few minutes of silence, overcoming that initial wave of embarrassment and the strange sensation of being carried.

"I could ask you the same question." The man shot back at her, his pace not slowing in the slightest as he headed for the unknown destination in which she hoped there might be some safety.

Unsure of quite how to reply she allowed them to lapse back into silence, until the man broke the silence again. "How you feeling?"

"Painful… Bloody painful." Vixen replied, of course she wasn't going to say anything about how she felt emotionally.

Her slight joke made the man chuckle. "For someone so badly beat up, you're pretty upbeat."

"Best way to deal with it." She replied, Jackal had told her that once after breaking her own arm in a fight.

"Ah, so you've been in situations like this before?" It seemed that he was trying to deduce stuff about her, then again if you've just picked up some random woman you've never met before and taken her to find help then you're entitled to be curious.

"Not a hundred percent alike." Vixen had never fallen off a building before, never been so badly injured and never been subject to the aid of a helpful stranger who just happened to be passing by.

"Do you mean gunslingers beating you unconscious or being carried around by some man you don't know?" He asked, for someone who didn't know her he was cottoning on to Vixen pretty fast.

Again she flushed, and again it went unnoticed, as she spluttered her reply "I err… The later."

"Right, so are you going to at least tell me your name now?" The man moved back to their first questions, thankfully avoiding any comment on her struggle for a reply that clearly showed embarrassment.

"Only if you tell me yours." Vixen recovered her wits and in a similar way to his earlier turned the question back on its inquirer.

He averted his eyes from her before giving his reply "Axe, Red Axe."

Her good eye widened at that response, although he didn't see it. This guy who was helping her, he was a member of Spectra? Then again it did make sense, sort of. He was wearing red and she guessed that his hair and eyes matched, that was the look that all seven of the Spectra mercenaries used. And of course the unit had been employed by the Costa-Santos family quite recently; there had been a lot of furore at the news. Anyone connected even remotely to the Rio underground or even those who took a slight interest in it had heard. The one thing that didn't make sense though was his not having killed her on sight; she was trespassing on his boss' turf after all.

"Okay, your turn." Axe reminded her; it seemed that her little internal deliberation had taken a little while in external time.

"Vixen." He had told her his alias, no harm in repeating the gesture.

It was his turn to make an expression of surprise. Sure the Shadows weren't an active gang or unit any more but still, what with the Rio murders and all, it was still quite a respected identity to hold. In the underworld at least, feds and gunslingers took an entirely different view to them, a threat to be eliminated. "Another member of the Shadows… Are you guys becoming active again or something?"

"No!" She hurriedly assured him, like most she had no intention of ever going properly back into the underworld. In the first place anyway she had only been a thief and reconnaissance girl, killing for a job was not something she could not personally stomach.

"Okay, I was just asking that's all." He had caught the panic in her voice at such an implication, obviously the way things were going down and growing up had softened most of them. Vixen was clearly one of the majority.

"What about you then?" She shot back, trying to turn the conversation away from herself quickly.

"Still working, it pays the bills and helps clean some of the scum off the streets. God knows, the gunslingers don't do it!" Axe clearly felt strongly on the matter. Of course any reasonable being couldn't help but be annoyed at the ineffectiveness and corruption of the Rio police force.

"We going to your hideout?" She asked.

Axe nodded before adding "I've got to check this in with CS and the others, I'd prefer to get you straight to a hospital but this way may turn out quicker…"

She flushed again slightly, was it just her imagination or was he being genuinely nice and considerate? Again silence surrounded them; Vixen's mind was busy trying to sort itself out. Something about this guy, it sent her into turmoil. In the middle of this she also noted the cloud of smoke rising in the distance and the lack of gunfire, and sirens.

This thought process was interrupted however when Axe cleared his throat and told her "We're here, this shouldn't take too long, _I hope…_" The last two words were inaudible to her, but she didn't really care at the moment.

He was about to get one of his hands free to knock on the metal door before them when it opened as if on cue. A blue haired woman stood there, a look of shock on her face at the sight before her. Vixen assumed this to be Blue Mace, another of the Spectra mercenaries. However as the woman stepped aside to let Axe through another, more vocal expression of surprise reached Vixen's brain.

"Oh my god! Vix, what the hell happened to you?"

**Jackal's pov**

The majority of Spectra had left the hideout when the cramp really started to get to Jackal. She tried shifting herself but being tied by the hands and feet made these attempts inadequate. Clearing her throat she managed to get the attention of the entire room. 'Ace was sat back in her original chair by the door and her eyebrows raised, Flavia glanced up from her laptop for a split second, the drug lord turned his gaze away from his employee to give her a bemused look while Andrew and Lioness both looked incredulous at her boldness. The true subject of her throat clearing had had his eyes fixed on her ever since the majority of his comrades had left, he didn't leave his rest against the wall however.

"A little help?" She asked him in a slightly annoyed tone, her pale hazel eyes fixed on his dark green ones.

Marco reluctantly peeled himself off the wall and walked over to his girlfriend, grabbing her by the collar and arranging her into a new position. He said nothing and returned to his skulking.

"Jesus, I'm the one who should be mad here. You were the one hiding your oh so secret identity from me." She snapped at him, the rather public discovery had made her rather pissed off with him. However Jackal was also quite annoyed with herself, how had she not guessed it before now? She now frankly thought of herself as rather stupid for missing it.

"Why did you come here?" He finally spoke to her, voice cold and there was an undeniable undertone of anger there even though he did his best not to show it.

"We've already been through that Marco, or should I call you Spear now?" Jackal added the question almost as an afterthought; venom though was dripping from it.

"Look this isn't the time or place…" He shifted uncomfortably, that tone of hers never boded well and even when angry he did not like to face his girlfriend in such a foul mood.

"When was it going to be huh? When were you going to 'fess up to being a member of Spectra?" She shouted at him, her hands straining to get free of their bonds so that she could lunge at him and make him pay for lying to her.

"Can we just sort this out later? You know when there aren't five other people in the room!" His voice rose slightly in annoyance, the presence of his boss and colleague was felt far too keenly by him.

"Sure, whatever liar…" She turned her head away from him, as far as she was concerned there might not be a later. He'd be lucky if she let him up the stairs of her apartment building ever again.

When her eyes fell on Lioness she decided that it might be a good thing to talk to her. The younger Brazilian did not look too happy, or normal for that matter. She seemed just to be staring ahead detachedly into nothingness, never a good sign. So Jackal shifted herself again, completely undoing the work done by Marco, and shuffled over to sit down next to her.

"You okay?" She asked, even though the answer was obvious that question just seemed like the easiest way to start up a conversation with her.

"What do you think?" Lioness answered, her tone sounded sulky and her posture reflected this mood.

"What's bothering you then? It's better to just get it out you know." Jackal couldn't help but send an angry glance in the direction of Marco; he could clearly hear what was being said though just like everyone in the room.

"Everything." Seemed to be all the reply that was being given but a deep breath was taken and a much more detailed answer followed rapidly "The fact this place just barged back into my perfectly happy life, my friends were all thrown into danger and are possibly dead because of things that happened in my childhood, I'm currently tied up and being held in the hideout of a Rio drug lord and that bitch Dove thinks that she can go with whoever she so pleases!"

Quite a lot of suppressed resentment it seemed. Of course one couldn't blame her; she had left the Shadows years ago and moved to America. Apparently she had been doing quite nicely, new friends, nice home, cool job which ironically involved beating up 'wrong doers'. Heck she hadn't deserved to have been dragged into this ridiculous war; she had been given the chance to actually achieve something good with her life only to have her past pounce back on her. God Jackal resented the screwed up nature of life sometimes, hell she resented it most of the time.

Just as she was about to form some sort of reply to the long and bitter stream a knock on the metal door interrupted. All eyes and attention in the room, save Flavia's, turned to it as 'Ace jumped up to pull it open for the returning mercenary. As her back was turned none of them saw the expression on her face before she hurriedly ushered Knife in.

There was a unified intake of breath as he entered the room. But it wasn't Knife himself that caused this reaction; it was the limp bundle he was carrying. Her skin was pale and sweat soaked her through, the left shoulder was bloody and disgusting. The eyes were scrunched shut and an expression of pain was etched into her features.

"Kiwi!" Jackal couldn't believe it; she was alive yet was so badly hurt… God what had they done to her?

"What happened?" Emiliano asked calmly, as if this sort of situation were one he frequently encountered.

"Bow and I found a burning building, the headquarters of the scum bags that decided to play around with explosives. We went in and found some incoherent guy with ginger hair who pointed out some sort of dungeons where another guy was hiding and this chick was lying. We got 'em out but Bow insisted on interrogating them then and there after checking this one over. Still breathing but she's in a bad way." He relayed the events to them, addressing his boss as he just stood there.

At this particular moment though the angry violet clad woman strode in through the door, which had been left open while 'Ace listened. She made an annoyed noise and kicked the wall before pointing out "You should learn to shut doors properly 'Ace."

"You killed the pair of guys then?" Knife asked, the answer was obvious and had been so even before he had left her with them.

"Yep, pair of spineless idiots. Low level in the operation, they didn't know anything of particular use." Bow growled before her eyes fell properly on her temporary partner. "Why the hell haven't you taken her to hospital yet?"

Knife was about to give a response but Emilano beat him to it "I believe Bow is right, she may be useful if she regains consciousness. You'd better take her straight to hospital."

As this was by far the most pleasant assignment he had been given all night the indigo haired man gave a respectful tilt of the head and turned to leave as quickly as possible, although not out of concern for the injured baggage.

'Ace pulled the door open to check the coast but she only succeeded in getting as far as opening it when she stopped. Again nobody inside the hideout could see her expression, the red haired man outside could however. She would have made some comment about the amount of injured people being brought in had the sight not made her feel slightly nauseous and had the look in Axe's eyes not warned her against.

Axe stepped in, his entrance seemed almost identical to that of Knife except for the fact that he was holding his 'passenger' more carefully and she appeared to be conscious. It was hard to tell if she was awake though as one eye was sealed shut by masses of dried blood mixed with mud. The right leg was twisted unnaturally and blood stained the trouser material, her body was bruised in several places visible and probably was also underneath her clothing. Her palms were coated in mud but there was a clear red tint from blood. She looked to be in almost a worse state than Kiwi.

"Oh my god! Vix, what the hell happened to you?" Jackal cried, straining to get up although again she failed.

"For Christ's sake, both of you get out of here! I don't want corpses thank you very much!" The drug lord had had enough, even his temper had to wear down eventually.

Neither man needed telling twice, and they quickly retreated out of the hideout into the paling darkness of the favela. 'Ace closed the door after them slowly, noting the lightening shade of the sky as the smoke began to clear away at long last. Morning was nearing.

Before anyone could make a comment on the exceptionally busy traffic through the building Flavia made a loud exclamation of triumph. "Got yah you buggers!"

**Su Ji's pov**

The recession of darkness however was not met quite so happily by the sole occupant of a run down warehouse in the depths of the industrial park on the skirts of Rio. Su Ji made a loud noise of anger and kicked over another pile of empty cardboard boxes, the floor was already littered with the once neat piles as a show of the aggravation the computer expert was feeling.

It had been hours since she had set them off for Favela dos Demons da Escuridão, they should have returned by now even if there had been problems. Hell if there had been problems they should have returned over an hour ago. And of course something was jamming her signal, or more specifically theirs, so she hadn't been able to reach any of them since they had entered the god damn favela.

For what seemed like the millionth time she turned back to her laptop and clicked on a window which contained a live news feed. Nothing. It was just pointless drivel about the football, foggy weather conditions and some important foreign person arriving at the airport for a visit to the city. All completely pointless.

She sighed and sank down onto the crate next to her faithful computer. How had it all gone so wrong? How had these people managed to get so many steps ahead of the group? Why was this all happening? Shaking her head she tried to clear away the questions, that could wait, maybe she should try one last time…

Picking up her discarded headset she swiftly typed in the appropriate instructions and waited, listening to the dialling and then the ringing sound. Please, please pick up she thought, willing Jackal to pick up. But then the familiar sound of a failed call returned and she gritted her teeth. Then she tried the next number, and the next. But there was never any reply, only the sound of a failed call. Jackal, Andrew, Vixen, all failed.

One last attempt, she typed in the number of Katie. It dialled but before she could start praying that there was an answer the noise cut out. There was no ringing, only the silence of a dead line. Her eyes widened in disbelief, it could only mean one thing. All of the others' had rung but not been picked up. But Katie's hadn't even rung, it couldn't, it had been destroyed…

Suddenly the news broadcast caught her attention and she quickly clicked on it. The reporter was a smartly dressed female who clearly cared not for the news she relayed, there was a person with no empathy if ever there was one. She quickly turned up the sound and listened intently, eyes glued to the screen.

"… And police officers staged a raid on the infamous Favela dos Demons da Escuridão last night. Almost the entire force descended on the slum in the late hours of yesterday and they were soon met by a persistent gunfire from what we presume to have been the forces of the favela's ruler, Emiliano Costa-Santos. A smoke screen was deployed over the entire favela to try and prevent any escape while blockades were set up at all major exits. All officers were authorised to shoot to kill and several bodies, including a young woman still unidentified, have been removed.

"However not long after midnight an explosion rocked the favela and the remains of a woman, presumably the detonator, have been recovered…"

She tuned out and swayed gently backwards and forwards, one fear was confirmed. Katie was dead, presumably gunned down by the police. Not that they would care for the fact that she was just a DJ trying to help a friend and save her lover. God, Su Ji hated to think of how Kiwi would take the news if she survived…

But her brooding was soon interrupted by the sound of an engine; she scarce dared to believe it. It couldn't be… She leapt up and peered around the wide doorway, eyes straining to prove her hopes correct. A van pulled up before her, almost identical to the ones that had abducted the various people. However this one had registration plates and was white in colour with the name of some random electrical company on the side.

Hope and relief turned to confusion as she inspected the vehicle; surely they hadn't ambushed a random passer-by? But as the glass was tinted she couldn't see who was inside. But she had not long to wait to find out as the side door slid open…

**Shark and Hawk's pov**

Mutual silence prevailed between the pair of teenage boys as they wandered slowly through the abandoned streets of Rio's South Zone. They had no idea where they were or where they were headed, although the sky was brightening that made no help to their current situation. Besides once the streets started to get busier people might notice the lost pair with ripped clothes and after the night they had just had neither wanted to stand out in the crowd.

They walked on, unknowingly heading west but any direction other than the one that led back to the favela and its nightmares was good. But eventually the sound of waves reached their ears, the road ahead of them opened up, palm trees became visible and they could see the sea. A nearby sign read 'Copacabana'.

"Talk about irony…" Hawk muttered, more to himself than his blonde companion even though the meaning derived from him. This had been the place Shark had most looked forward to coming to, and now they were here in the worst of circumstances.

"What was that?" For the first time since they had left the favela Shark looked him directly in the face as he asked the question. His good mood had long since evaporated but he had previously refrained from expressing it.

"Nothing…" He looked away; at the moment he had no desire to look the blonde in the eyes, not when they were so fierce.

Rather tense and frustrated silence returned as they crossed the deserted road to walk on the path that ran alongside the sandy beach, the tide appeared to be going out. Neither looked at the other and they just randomly wandered northwards, unknowingly away from the place they were supposed to be going.

Hawk suddenly broke the silence with a question that had long been bothering him "Why are you so bothered about that Vixen chick anyway? You barely know her."

"Why do you care?" Shark retorted and paused before continuing "She seemed to be decent enough and did save our lives…"

"You don't fancy her do you?" Hawk asked after a deep breath and some inner turmoil, he regretted asking it as soon as he had though.

"What! No!" He quickly replied, he didn't like her in that way. Not at all, certainly not, never in a million years… But then the tone in the question stuck him and he suspiciously asked "Why?"

"Err… No reason…" That seemed to have thrown Hawk as much as his question had thrown Shark.

Shark was not going to let the matter drop at that but before he could continue with his interrogation they both noticed the sound of an engine. It was clear in the still night air; they hadn't run into a single car since leaving the dreadful slum. Both turned to stare at the approaching vehicle. A white van coming from the south, there was writing on the side although neither could make it out properly until the van pulled up beside them. 'Sparky Electrics; we wouldn't want you to blow a fuse, would we?' was what it said.

"Need a lift?" The driver asked in a gruff voice, not winding his tinted window down enough for them to see him.

There was no time for response however before the back door slid open and a cool, calm voice ordered "Get in."

* * *

There, we have it. So; it's hospital for Kiwi and Vixen, curtains for Katie and the back of a white van for Shark and Hawk. We'll see what happens to the rest in the chapter after next… Next time it returns to Wolf and we, hopefully, finally find out just why this is all going on, and Hyena suffers the fallout from her pain killer induced high… See you then.


	25. Answers?

Hi again! Chapter 25 now, and after this there _should_ (stress the word should) be only three more chapters. I am determined to finish this before the end of the summer holidays! Anyway I'm afraid that this chapter does not offer the 'complete' explanation I promised, still another couple of chapters folks! Thanks to **Mia Kyra Callwel** and **Arwen16** for reviewing the previous chapter, as always they are appreciated.

**Disclaimer**: As much as I hate to say it I do not own A.T.O.M. however I do own Wolf, Hyena, etc, etc...

Answers?

**Wolf's pov**

Wolf's fists clenched as the source of all this fear and shit appeared in the doorway. He smiled, a damn smug yet malicious smirk, as he casually leaned against the frame. After what seemed like hours of just standing there he finally peeled himself off and swaggered fully into the room, door swinging shut behind him.

"Well, well. Long time no see Wolfie!" The smirk morphed into a full sadistic grin as he stood there surveying her, arms folded in a cocky pose. His trademark pair of sunglasses obscured his eyes still, although in all fairness the room was rather blaringly white.

A low growl was all she mustered in reply; she kept her eyes off his face and seemed almost as if she were addressing his shoes. This did not bother him however, though it did serve to impress some of the graveness of the situation on the other occupants of the cell.

"What's that? Couldn't quite hear you there…" The man squatted down and observed the expression on her face, smiling again before he straightened up. "Well perhaps now would be the time for the true explanation. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, heh Wolfie?"

Another growl; bad reference, bad joke. Then again he was not noted for the quality of his humour, only the sadistic nature of it. The adverse reaction only seemed to please him more. "Well! I'd say if anyone here had reason to be huffy it should be me! In fact, I ought not to say anything more until you are in a more amicable mood…"

He turned to leave, but moved slowly as if he expected to be called back. Both he and she knew that no such move would be made, on her part anyway. But he was counting on the curiosity of the two teen tourists; they seemed completely in the dark about this. And, of course, he was proven right.

"Don't we deserve some sort of explanation here? We are nothing to do with whatever is going on!" Axel shouted, jumping to his feet in exasperation.

Even though his back was turned to her Wolf could sense the change in smile that would make; that was one thing most madmen had in common, they never stopped smiling. Her teeth gritted, anything that came out of his mouth would only be infuriating or nonsensical.

"If you have no idea what is going on, then how do you know for sure that you have nothing to do with it?" He turned his attention to them, unseen eyes boring into them. Logic, undeniable logic, was one thing he did have on his side, even if it was sometimes warped beyond measure.

After a short pause, as if for a reply, he continued "You are Americans right? That is a good enough reason for me to dislike you right there…"

Wolf rolled her eyes, still with the habitual hatred for anyone originating from America or any of his other so called 'stuck up' countries. When it came to grudges 'Mystery-Man' was an exceptional case of endurance and blanketing.

"Anyway," he continued "I suppose that you want to know all about why you're here, what's with the killings, etc, etc… But quite where I should start? Well you boys are merely, as the saying would go, 'caught in the crossfire'. If you didn't have a connection to the Shadows then you, most likely, wouldn't have been dragged into this. Although of course, I don't like Americans. Especially know it all righteous do-gooders, which I have found out you two are… So, you are really not part of the main goal of this operation, merely an extra bonus."

Being dubbed an 'extra bonus' did not seem to go down well with either of the pair, however the annoyed Axel took the lead, again, in his quest for answers. "So what is your 'main goal' then?"

"Hmm…" He paused for a moment to consider the reply, stroking his chin in what he hoped to be an intellectual pose. "You're Axel Manning, aren't you? The son of an annoying little American spy… Why I ought to have you disposed of right now! After all it is goodie two-shoes like your father that ruin perfectly legitimate operations run by people like me…"

Seeing the immanent danger of a certain martial artist going overboard King decided to speak up and switched the track of the conversation. "Who exactly are 'people like you'?"

"Perfectly legitimate and respectable citizens who happen to make successes of their lives, but because we come from honest, hard working countries your stuck up countries think that we must be doing something illegal and set out to ruin us!" Quite a sore subject it seemed.

"Come off it, you are anything but legitimate and respectable. People of that sort do not get caught doing bad business and get sent to prison." Wolf spoke up at last; her voice was steady although she clearly had to hold it thus. Her fists clenched and unclenched as she looked contemptuously at the hated man.

"Oh you would think that, wouldn't you Wolfie? After all you don't want to admit that everything you stand for is _wrong_ now do you?" He waved the comment aside lightly at first but his tone darkened.

"Right back at you. Besides your suspicions in that respect are unfounded, I am a mercenary, not an agent." She crossed her arms, alibi painfully, and tried to get full control over her emotions once more.

"I find that hard to believe Wolfie, after all, you were always so keen on making mummy and daddy proud." The man goaded, her parents were a sore issue on both sides although for slightly different reasons.

"As if; I respect them for what they were, nothing more. Nor do I wish to be anything like them…" Wolf shook her head slightly sadly; why did their shit have to land back on her doorstep?

"Hmm… You do sound rather convincing… But then that would make my entire line of logic in this area wrong, and that can't be so." The logic argument again; another sign of a madman is their supposed inability to be wrong.

"So cocky… Prison really didn't change you much did it?" It was time to change the subject, make him feel uncomfortable, if that was possible. But Wolf knew that this man would not be made uncomfortable, not by her at least.

"Oh lord no! God forbid that I should be unjustly changed by that grim place!" He waved it aside; prison was just another place, in his mind.

"Your imprisonment was perfectly justified, what you were trading for Christ's sake! You seriously can't be so sorely warped as to believe that was acceptable?" Wolf nearly shouted at him, anger outstripping all other emotions for the moment.

"I supplied for the demand! That is the whole principle of economics!" Again came the inability to be wrong.

"Not when you're trading in…" She began, but had no chance to finish her sentence as the speakers came back to life with a new voice.

"Sir, a situation has arisen that you ought to attend to." Crisp and businesslike, one would not be able to distinguish such a voice from a crowd at the stock market. You wouldn't guess what such a voice was in charge of or who such a voice willingly worked for.

"Ah!" He sighed in mock misery. "It looks like this talk will have to be cut short. And just as we were starting to get somewhere…"

Giving everyone one last look, changing the expression slightly for each he turned on his heel and yanked the door open. Before he disappeared through he called over his shoulder "Until next time!"

And then, the door was shut, he was gone. Wolf sighed; relaxing as fully as she could given the circumstances, the first meeting was over so perhaps the next would be less worrying. The two others however seemed to have tensed up during the meeting and didn't look capable of relaxing at all anytime soon.

"Who was that?" King finally managed tersely.

She sighed before biting the bullet and answering "Mystery-Man; real name Dexter Hadrian, a Brazilian businessman who formerly ran several people trafficking, drug and weapons operations and apparently the person responsible for the contract killings of at least fifteen people. And the brother of my late father."

**Hyena's pov**

"So, Dexter Hadrian… Just what are you up to?" Hyena muttered to herself as she perched on the edge of an office chair, face leaning into the computer screen before her.

It had not been so long ago that she had woken up with a rather uncomfortably large gap in her memory and a painful throbbing in her head. After a while she had managed to figure out where she was and the main points of what had happened. One of the 'Big Boss's' grunts had been more than happy to tell her just what a fool she'd made of herself while high on painkillers. She had seethed on that for quite a while.

One of the things that had bothered her most though was the complete absence of Vulture. He wasn't the type to just go off for a nice little walk, especially on the main streets as the city started to wake back up. Something was definitely off. But once she had found the room in which the security footage for the entire complex was housed Hyena decided that the grouchy man could wait.

So there she sat, scanning through the complex labyrinth of footage in search of… Well come to think of it she wasn't really sure what she was looking for, just whiling away time by watching camera footage. Some feeds were completely snooze worthy (broom cupboards for Christ's sake!) while others were significantly more, to put it simply, riveting.

After finishing up watching what a secretary had been up to a few hours ago Hyena switched feeds again. Picking completely at random she landed on the one covering the underground car park and a thought stuck her. She could find out just how bad she had been! Oh, and perhaps see where Vulture had wandered off to as well.

She clicked on the necessary buttons and watched as the footage rolled rapidly back to the requested time. Once it got to the right place she let it play back at ordinary speed and watched, rather impatiently, as a certain black van pulled up. For a few minutes nothing happened, but then as the 'welcoming party' arrived Vulture got out. A small discussion ensued although she couldn't hear a word; there was an annoying lack of audio with the footage.

The final statement seemed to have been made as the grunts went to unload the van; she waited for herself to get out and almost missed the dispatching of the Romanian. "Holy shit!"

Quickly she rewound it and watched closer as the grunt raised the gun, pulled the trigger and began cleaning up the mess. This time she missed the presence of herself and the prisoners as the corpse of her partner was lugged out of sight by an uncaring thug. "Shit!"

Okay, as much as she hated to admit it, Hyena cared about Vulture. Not much and not in any sort of close relationship way, she just cared in the way one cares for a colleague, even if slightly less than normal people would. But on the other hand…

If the 'Big Boss', AKA Dexter, had disposed of Vulture with so little thought then maybe… Her head gave a small throb of protest as she started to think more quickly. What was it that had been constantly stressed? 'No money until everyone on that hit list is gone'. _Everyone_ on the list.

"Oh God!" She cried as the full realisation hit her. Leaping up she backed away from the computer as if that were the enemy. Thoughts were not quite so logical now, all that she knew was that she had to get out of here and get out fast, if she valued her life.

Plans formulated swiftly in her brain but they all came crashing down when she heard a voice from behind her. "Going somewhere?"

* * *

I like cliff-hangers too much, but then again is this so much of a cliffie? Anyway we, and the characters, do get_ some_ answers but the chapter after next is when we get the reason for the whole fiasco. There is slightly more action next time when we go back to the others. We find out what 'buggers' Flavia has 'got' and what the deal is with 'Sparky Electrics'. See you there!


End file.
